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There’s a famous 1960’s study where a Harvard professor named Robert Rosenthal researched on the effects of teachers’ expectations on students. He gave a standard IQ test to elementary children, selected some ordinary kids at random, and told teachers that those few students will soon become very intelligent. Sure enough, after two years, the selected students DID indeed show an increase in IQ.

As Rosenthal’s research continued, he found that the teachers’ expectations affected their interactions with those randomly selected students. Those kids that the teachers expect to succeed were given “more time to answer questions, more specific feedback, and more approval: They consistently touch, nod and smile at those kids more.” In short, expectations affected their behavior, and their behavior affected their results. They expected the kids to do well, so they behaved in ways that made the kids do better.

So what does this story have to do with you? It’s simple. Your expectations about YOURSELF affects your behavior. Whether you know it or not, you act in ways that will make your expectations reality. Your entire life is a reflection of your thoughts.

Why is this important? If you want to avoid a life of failure and you want to improve the quality of your life, you need to learn how to control your thoughts and improve your expectations.

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