Stanley F. Bronstein – Personal Development BlogPersonal Development Blog of the Founder of the Achievement IQ Movement and Creator of the Laws of Positioning

Meditation for Sunday – July 25, 2010

Expectancy Determines Outcome.
(Deepak Chopra)

Today’s Meditation

What do you expect to achieve in your life?

I ask because defining your expectations is a key ingredient in achieving your desired outcomes.

If you expect grand outcomes, you are much more likely to achieve grand outcomes. If you expect little or nothing, that is exactly what you are most likely to achieve; little or nothing.

You would never think of driving in unfamiliar territory without a road map, so why shouldn’t you lay out a desirable road map to help you reach your desired outcomes?

Often our expectations in life are shaped during our early formative years. Many parents tell their young children they are capable of accomplishing anything they desire. I was fortunate to have such parents. Other parents fill their children with limiting beliefs that only serve to limit the expectations of their children.

One key example of this has always stuck out in my mind. Several years ago, I was visiting a friend at his workplace on a Saturday. One of my friend’s fellow workers brought his ten-year-old son with him to work.

When I was introduced to my friend’s co-worker, the coworker then introduced his son as his “little idiot”. I was extremely upset when I heard this. I did not say anything to the worker as I did not feel it was any of my business, but I felt like saying something such as, “I’m sure you don’t really mean that, as your son appears to be very smart to me.”

When I talked with my friend about this later, he indicated his co-worker was an extremely nice guy and was a very good family man who loved his son very much.

Notwithstanding, in my opinion, he was unintentionally inhibiting his son’s future development. Children as well as adults, have a tendency to believe what they hear. If you tell them they’re smart, they will believe they’re smart. If you tell them they’re an idiot, even in jest, they will believe they’re an idiot

My next post will talk about limiting thoughts and limited expectations  . . .

Analysis

As you meditate upon this thought, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you expect to accomplish in your life?
• What do you tell your children and others around you to expect?