Positive self-expectancy is the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a top-achieving, winning human being. Positive self-expectancy is pure and simple optimism: real enthusiasm for everything you do... [while] expecting the most favorable result from your own actions. There never was a winner who didn't expect to win in advance. Winners understand that life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And they know that you usually get what you expect in the long run.
Interpretation
Positive self-expectancy is crucial for achieving success, as it embodies optimism and enthusiasm for one's actions.
In this quote, Denis Waitley emphasizes the importance of positive self-expectancy as a fundamental trait of successful individuals. He argues that winners are driven by optimism and a strong belief in favorable outcomes, which often leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy where one's expectations shape their reality. The quote highlights that to achieve victory, one must first expect to win, suggesting that mindset plays a pivotal role in personal and professional success.
In practice
This quote can inspire students at a graduation ceremony to believe in their future success.
Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the "someday I'll" philosophy.
Winners have the ability to step back from the canvas of their lives like an artist gaining perspective. They make their lives a work of art - an individual masterpiece.
Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.
The easiest thing to do in the world is to neglect the important and give in to the urgent.
You are an uncut gemstone of priceless value. Cut and polish your potential with knowledge, skills and service and you will be in great demand throughout your life.
Expect the best; convert problems into opportunities; be dissatisfied with the status quo; focus on where you want to go, instead of where you're coming from; and most importantly, decide to be happy, knowing it's an attitude, a habit gained from daily practice, and not a result or payoff.
Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage.
People who walk by faith don't see obstacles, they see opportunities.
I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy.
I think that it is very important if you know what you want, understand where you are heading towards, and try your best to get it. It is only when we use our hearts to do it, and fall in love with what we are doing, then can we really get real determination.
I am the best damn ass-kicker in the whole U.S. Army!
Every person who has ever achieved anything has been knocked down many times. But all of them picked themselves up and kept going, and that is what I have always tried to do.
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