On this journey called life, one lesson we all need to learn is that our expectations hold great power! Whatever we expect to find and experience in life is usually what we get. Why is that? Mainly, it’s because those are the things we focus on.
When you expect success and focus on it, your world will rearrange itself accordingly. On the other hand, if you focus on the possibility of failure while working toward success, you will send your brain mixed signals. This means that your efforts to succeed will be negated because you are subconsciously expecting to fail.
3 Ways to expect success
There are many ways that your expectations can affect your ability to reach your goals. Here are three important areas you should be aware of:
1) Attitude – Your expectations affect your attitude. It’s amazing how much attitude has to do with success. A negative or cynical attitude is enough to prevent you from giving your best effort and attention to your goals, which will lead to lukewarm results.
If you want to experience dynamic results, you’ve got to have a dynamic attitude. You’ve got to be fired up, passionate, and committed to your goals as if your life depended on achieving them. You should expect success and nothing less!
2) Action – Your expectations affect your willingness to take action. Not only will a negative expectation taint your attitude, it will also determine the intensity and persistence of your actions. If you expect things to go wrong, they usually will (Murphy’s Law). If you expect to experience an unfavorable outcome, you’ll see little point in working on your goal as diligently as you could. A halfhearted effort can only yield mediocre results at best.
On the other hand, when you’re motivated and inspired about your goals and expect them to produce outstanding results, your determination will skyrocket and you’ll move forward in a deliberate way. When you expect success you’ll be filled with eager anticipation so there will be no reason to hesitate or procrastinate.
3) Interaction – Finally, your expectations affect the way you interact with other people. People can sense a negative attitude even if you don’t say a word. If you go into any potential partnership or opportunity with negative expectations, your potential partners are not going to be inspired by your attitude. They’ll probably view you as an ineffective person who lacks confidence. As a result, they may not want to get involved.
But a confident, positive person with a clear focus and solid plan of action is the kind of person that everybody wants to work with! Not only will you feel better by expecting the best, your potential partners and benefactors will be inspired by your vision and determination. When you expect success they can feel it and will be anxious to work with you.
What do you personally expect?
You expect success, right? Either that or you want to learn to expect success. Either way you are way ahead of the curve because you are focused in a positive direction. The next step is to take decisive action while maintaining the right mindset.
Rather than trying to explain the whole process in one article, I have created a free 7 part course called: Developing a Mindset for Success. If this sounds interesting to you just click the link to get started. All I ask in return is that you take action on the things you learn. Why is that so important?
Because as vital as it is to expect success, nothing happens until we take action. We must back our expectations with action to successfully produce our intended results. Action is the muscle of expectation.
Do you ever find yourself expecting one thing but focusing on another?
The lines are open!
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Jonathan, this is such a great point. That’s why it’s important to focus our senses with a clear visual picture of what we expect, even writing it out on positive, present tense terms, to get our subconscious consciously aligned with our desired outcomes. Because we’re going to expect and focus either on success and failure: it’s best to focus on success
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..Have You Made My Mistakes in Getting What You Want
Hi Steve, writing down our expectation is a very powerful exercise. I think people tend to blow it off because it seems too easy. Then again, many powerful practices are easy and isn’t that a good thing? I Like easy!
Hi Jonathan. It’s been a real joy to spend a bit of time at your blog and particularly, to share this post.
It fits so well with where I am at right now.
I spent most of my life pursuing very ardently my dream of finding truth.
But even as I did that I either negated or put on the backburner any real concern for material well-being let alone abundance.
Now it feels like a great wave is pushing me forward with a powerful expectation that EXTERNAL abundance is in process of manifesting in my life as a reflection of inner abundance.
Thank you for your help in focusing more sharply on this expectation. It feels GOOD every time I think of it.
Hi Christopher, I am surprised we haven’t connected before now. We certainly have enough mutual friends and common interests.
I can feel the power of your positive expectations in your your comment Christopher. I have no doubt that there is a tsunami of good thing headed your way.
I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Advanced Life Skills and say that I look forward to interacting with you in the near future.
Expectations are like doors. Whatever door you hold open in your psyche, that is the door that people you interact with will walk through.
This explains why some people will habitually experience people they deal with daily as negative, and the results reflect this, while others experience the same set of people in a much more rewarding way. The difference is entirely in their attitudes.
People you deal with want to feel connected (read: accepted) and positive. This is regardless of their surface demeanor. If that is the door you open within yourself, I guarantee they will walk through it.
That simple attitude can catalyze MUTUAL success? What could be better than that?
Cheers,
John
John Rocheleau – Zen-Moments recently posted..What I Know For Sure About Life
What great insight John and you expressed it in such nice way. The “door metaphor” is on that we can easily relate to. I love this line: “People you deal with want to feel connected (read: accepted) and positive. This is regardless of their surface demeanor.”
When we realize that it allows us to see beyond their mood. It also allows us to respond rather than just react. Thanks for sharing your thought John, really appreciated.
Jonathan, I am really resonating with this article. I’ve been testing out changing my expectations on a small scale and am amazed by how wonderfully it works – at least I l feel good! My big challenge is having to take the kittens to the vet on my own. They can be quite un-catchable when they want to be. But I decided to change my expectations and to expect it will go well. I feel more confident and that seems to even send a message to the kittens. So that’s small scale. Now, any nearby mountains to climb?
Sandra Lee recently posted..101 rays of gratitude
Hi Sandra, kittens, that sounds like fun! I am a total cat lover so just thinking about those fury little guys makes me smile. Shouldn’t be too bad because they won’t know they don’t like the vet until it’s too late. But they will be smarter next time, so I would would plan to make a game out of it.
Remember, mountains are just a series of small steps on an incline.
There is no such thing in life as guaranteed results. Your results are completely based on your own efforts and willingness to take action and put in the time necessary. When you have the belief of expecting success you will never have this problem again.
Ben Tien recently posted..Improve Memory Skills
Hey Ben, I can hear the confidence associated with NLP in your comment. Truly some of the greatest personal development tools on the planet.
Jonathan,
Great insights. I look forward to reading your series.
One item I would add to your list is planning. Its all well and good to have the right mindset for success… but without direction you will never get where you want to go.
Thanks again
Chris
Chris Akins recently posted..You cannot- not learn
Hi Chris, I totally agree. Planning is usually the main difference between those who reach their goals and those who don’t. I like to refer to planning as “designing success.” It’s hard to get where yo want to go if you don’t have a map and haven’t been there before. Every minute spent on planning can save mountains of time and frustration. Thanks Chris!
The one thing that really caught my attention here Jonathan is passion. We can succeed at anything we set our minds on, if we are passionate about what we are doing. We often wonder where children get their energy and enthusiasm for life. They get it from being passionate regardless of what they are doing.
It is nourishing to the soul to develop a desire and follow through by reaching for our intentions – what we visualize in our minds. It does not matter how long it takes you to reach a goal, but how well you handle the process.
Every time you determine an objective, your essence is reaching out to you. Your spirit is entreating you to sense the need to succeed!
Sandra Hendricks recently posted..Develop the Need to Succeed
What a great thought Sandra: “Every time you determine an objective, your essence is reaching out to you.” Passion turns the day-to-day into an awe inspiring adventure.
Hi Jonathan,
and nothing less.
What an awesome wisdom filled article! i LOVE IT.
As for expectations….its best to have wholesome healthy and positive expectation or have none at all. Cause then either ways you cant be disappointed in the outcome. I have noticed that having the right expectations..and as you said deciding on the right plan of action to achieve those expectations is key to success…And success is such a broad spectrum right. Different for each and every one of us.
May we all achieve our own successes…
Much Love,
Z~
Hi Zeenat, that is an excellent point about having positive expectation or have none at all. There is a lot to be said for being open to any outcome without attachment. It’s a very liberating mindset. So you’ve introduced a third possibility into the whole expectation concept. The important thing is to avoid negative, or even mediocre expectations and shoot for positive or let it go altogether!
Great points here Jonathan. Just as important as what we must do to access success, there are equally balanced items we must NOT do. Do not limit ourselves, do not let others negatively influence or doubt us, and do NOT search for success on your own, as you will never find it. Great tips, I just wanted to add another dimension to your article!
Mike King recently posted..Another Week- Another Mountain
Hi Mike, I love it that you always have another dimension to add. I figure that I write half the article and my readers contribute the rest. Your insights are appreciated my friend.
The kick in the butt I need during my 30 day challenge with cycling and yoga and meditation and continued vegan diet….Another thing that makes for amazing tip for me, one that I sometimes forget but when I do it, it has amazing effect, is to smile when I am alone and working and planning – to clear out those wrinkles, to think happier thoughts and be in harmony with myself….Smiling now and ready for dynamic performance on my challenge, thanks to you Jonathan!!!
And not to worry – the CommentLuv did not show up because my cable modem decided to shut down right after the comment submit was pressed….but as you see, Jonathan, it is finally fixed!
Farnoosh recently posted..Beyond the First 30 Days- Staying Committed to Habits
Hi Farnoosh, that’s a great suggestion – smiling when we are alone. Of course, I always smile when you stop by to visit!!!
Hi Jonathan. I’d like to offer something if I may. Years ago, I was preparing a talk about “success” for University grads. We ancient alumni get pressed into this service for convocations every year. But my talk gave me sleepless nights. I knew something scary about “success” these young people probably didn’t want to know. Even so, I felt obligated to hold up my red flag. So I did. Here’s the gist of it. Those graduates wanted a speech filled with precisely the success principles Jonathan has so eloquently summarized here and in other articles. These principles, if applied to your life, really can make you successful beyond your wildest dreams. But they probably won’t for one simple reason. True success is about building …..YOU. Not a business. Not a mountain of cash. Not a monument. YOU. So let’s stop and think for a second. These success principles are just tools. And what happens if you don’t know what you’re making? If you don’t know who YOU are….all the tools in the world won’t help. Chances are you don’t have a clue who you are right now either, because only one in millions does in today’s world. Now we get to the scary part. What happens if you use the success principles without knowing who you are? Simple. You build the life of somebody else’s dreams. You pretend to be something you’re not. By now you may be wondering how to figure out who you really are. The short answer is, you have to change the way you see the world. The way we’ve been taught to see things just won’t let you. Ciao. John Duffield
John Duffield recently posted..Being Yourself is Your Purpose on Earth
Another great post Jonathan!
This is something I definitely believe in, but also know that I need to work on more in my life right now.
Having & keeping a mindset of the “Power of Positivity” can only make our world a better place!
Love & Blessings to ALL,
–snookiecollins
snookiecollins recently posted..Have You Ever Tried Vibrational Healing or Energy Medicine