While you may not always get what you want, you will always get what you expect! Surprisingly, the power of belief and expectation work just as effectively on your feelings of self-doubt and limitation as they do on your thoughts of success and achievement. Think thoughts of defeat or failure and you are bound to be discouraged. Belief is an incredibly powerful state of mind. Your belief system not only defines and shapes who you are, but it also determines your potential. Henry Ford was correct when he said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right."

Your belief system, like your computer, doesn't judge what you input; it simply accepts it as the truth. Earl Nightingale, cofounder of the Nightingale-Conant Corporation, concluded that life's strangest secret is that you become what you think about all day long. If you want to know where your predominant thoughts lie and what you believe, look at what you are experiencing in your life. Your thoughts are creative by nature and express themselves through your emotions, which in turn, drive your actions. Everything you say, both positive and negative, is literally an affirmation.

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny."

- Anonymous

Many years ago, I heard about an eager, new insurance agent who had just received his license and was looking for prospects. He met with a successful businessman who had agreed to provide him with referrals. As the businessman handed the insurance agent ten referrals, he asked him to contact the prospects immediately and get back to him with the results. Two weeks later, the enthusiastic salesman dropped by the businessman's office to give him feedback and ask for more referrals. The insurance agent was pleased to announce that he had been very successful! He proudly stated that he had already contacted and sold insurance policies to seven of the referrals and was still attempting to contact the other three. After thanking the businessman for giving him the ten prospects, he asked him if he had thought of any other referrals. The businessman smiled and said that he was very busy at the moment and surprised the insurance agent by handing him a phonebook. The businessman informed him that the previous ten prospects were not his personal contacts, but rather names that he had selected at random out of the phonebook. He suggested that the salesman go ahead and get the next ten prospects out of the phonebook himself!

The astute businessman taught the new salesman an extremely valuable lesson in the power of belief and expectation. The salesman had made those sales on the belief that he had been given ten preferred prospects. Therefore, he was confident and eager to contact those leads and expected to make the sales with little or no difficulty. What is your belief about your market and what expectations do you have for your success? Yes, belief is indeed a very powerful state of mind!