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I used to think that love was the greatest force on earth.

Lately, however, I have come to recognize that the greatest human force is something else, something deeper, something even more fundamental.

I’m talking about the power of expectation. It can move mountains, save life, and when used negatively, destroy life.

How do expectations have such power?

The answer lies with your subconscious mind. Your subconscious controls your automatic actions and physiological responses, habits, creativity, and even your perception. That’s right. It controls what “vibes” and other cues in your environment that you will see or not see. We all have had the experience of not seeing something that was in plain sight because we didn’t want to see it or were thinking about something else.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, however. The subconscious is much more proactive. It “goes for” this and it “goes for” that, creating self-fulfilling prophecy. Behind the scenes, outside your conscious awareness, it works little by little to create into reality what you down-deep expect or believe. In other words, it slyly helps you turn fiction into fact.

The end result: if you believe or expect a certain outcome, you will find yourself acting in subtle ways that help set up the very thing you expect, for good or for ill. And you won’t even know you’re doing it!

Expectation is also transactional. Not only are we sending out vibes and actions, we’re also receiving them from others and responding accordingly. Everyday we are living up – or down – to the expectations of others.

How many great leaders do you think become greater because of the faith their followers had in them? In truth, we all help make each other possible.

Our expectations underlie and impact everything we think feel, and do. It pays, then, to examine and form them carefully.

If I believe I can, I can. If I believe I can’t, I won’t. Yes, it is that simple.

You’re in Charge. You can alter your expectations. Refuse to let hopeless or negative thinking grab hold. Refute your “negative nonsense”. Train yourself to think big, to be optimistic, to see opportunity in strange places and in every set-back.

Here are ten expectations worth developing:

  • Expect only the best out of life – because you deserve it.
  • Expect abundance – good things will come your way.
  • Expect that if a problem arises, you will find a solution.
  • Expect that whatever occurs, you will have or develop the strength to overcome.
  • Expect that all things work together for good, even if they don’t always start out that way.
  • Expect that others generally have honest motives, even when they disagree with you.
  • Expect that others want to do a good job.
  • Expect that most people want to – and can – achieve great things in their own fashion.
  • Expect that you will achieve any attainable goal you set.
  • Expect that you will reap what you sow many times over.

And expect that when you alter your negative or self-limiting expectations, you’ll be much more successful, happier and more fulfilled. And expect that, when you do, bundles of blessings will come your way.

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For 40 years, Harry has been helping people transform potential into enhanced performance. He is a psychologist and specialist in healthy competition, high performance and life optimization. 

Harry is the author of six books, including The New Way To Compete (Lexington Books, 1990, 1991, Self-Help Books.com 1998), The 8 Keys To Becoming Wildly Successful and Happy (Insight, 1998, 2000), Power Strategies of Jesus Christ: Principles of Leadership from the Greatest Motivator Of All Time (Triumph, 1991, Random House, 1999), and Joy and Victory NOW! How to Attain “The Peace That Surpasses All Understanding” (Phil. 4:7) (Chana, 2012).

Harry received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Tennessee (1972) and his B.A. (1966) and Ed.M (1968) from Temple University. He also completed two years full time undergraduate training at Philadelphia College of Bible and one year at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. In addition, he received training in medical hypnosis from the University of Maryland Medical School, and studied with the Director of The Institute of Sport Psychology of Orebro University in Sweden, and holds a Certification as a Master Life Coach from American University of NLP.

He has served on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University and the American Institute of Management, and as an adjunct consultant with The Center For Quality and Productivity, University of Maryland Business School. He also served on The Maryland State Department of Education High School Assessment Task Force. For over ten years, Harry served as the psychologist, and served on the Vocations Committee, for the DE-MD Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He remains continuously active in his church life.

For more information, please visit harryolson.com

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