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The law of expectancy

Time and time again, psycholog­ical studies have shown that the basic reason for a person’s success is that he expected to succeed. Athletes who achieve success expect to win. Mohammed Ali was one of the greatest prizefighters of all time. In his usual out-going way, he affirmed victory by stating, “When I win this fight….” not “If I win this fight.” Now, that is total self-confidence!

Aristotle said, “What you expect, that you shall find.” Dr Robert Anthony believes that expectations control our life, so it is imperative that we control your expectations. If you expect the best, you will at­tract the best. But if you expect the worst to happen, be assured that it will. “By permitting your life to be dominated by negative thought patterns, you form the habit of expecting negative results.” Studies show that over ninety percent of the population has negative expec­tations.

You may find this hard to accept, but the reason you grow old is because you expect to. You have been programmed to begin getting old when you reach a certain age. At that point in time, you subcon­sciously take on the personality, dress style and symptoms of old age. It is believed that elephants have an instinct that enables them to predict death. When they feel their time has come, they embark on a journey to the ‘elephants’ graveyard. The majority of people, Dr Anthony thinks, do about the same thing!

Total self-confidence is built through positive expectations. You can build positive expectations by knowing that you have the power within to overcome any obstacle that lies ahead. So many people have a magnetic attraction to the past. They save mementos, clip­pings, old letters and trivia. While there is nothing wrong with this, if you want to succeed your mind must focus on where you are go­ing, not to where you have been.

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Look forward to the future with expectations, and then act enthu­siastic. “Enthusiasm is a powerful motivating force and one of the great secrets of success.” Derived from two Greek words, ‘en’ mean­ing ‘in’ and ‘theos’ meaning ‘God,’ ENTHUSIASM MEANS GOD IN YOU. And it is this God Power within you that will enable you to accomplish anything you desire if you release it through dynamic thinking.

The margin of difference in actual skill, ability and intelligence between those who achieve and those who fail is really quite small. If two people are evenly matched, the one who is enthusiastic will find the scales tipping in his favor. Even an enthusiastic person with second-rate ability will often suc­ceed where a person of first-rate ability, lacking enthusiasm, will fail.

When Mark Twain was asked the secret of his success, he replied, “I was born excited.” Thomas Edison said, “When a man dies, if he can pass enthusiasm along to his children, he has left them as estate of incalculable value.” And Emerson, in his essays, observed, “Every great and commanding moment in the annals of the world is the triumph of somebody’s enthusiasm.” The respective life experiences of these men bear out their shared philosophy. When you expect something positive, through the Law of Attraction, just like a magnet, you will attract whatever you expect. Know that your expec­tations of today will be your life of tomorrow.

The secrecy principle

None of your time should be spent in telling others what you are going to accomplish. To do so is another form of approval seeking. By disclosing your goals, you will dissipate valuable energy needed to accomplish them, as well as set up opposition from those who wish to control you.

Most people will try to talk you out of your goals. They dislike seeing anyone having more or do better than they, and will resort to almost any extreme to put down someone who tries to break away from mediocrity. Many would-be achievers have lost out before they even got started by letting others, particularly family members, talk them out of what they really want­ed to do.

You deserve a break

today

The best break you can give yourself is one devoted to medita­tion with its unique combination of peace and power. Persons concerned with the betterment of humankind have come to the conclusion, at different times and in different places, that, if we are to achieve our maximum mental, physical and spiritual potential, a system of complete rest, relax­ation and inner communication is essential. Without this, we can only expect to operate at a fraction of our capabilities.

Different techniques have been developed to help us reach our potential. The most common is mediation. Meditation is not the invention of any one group or individual. It does not necessarily have anything to do with any reli­gious group or denomination. No initiation is required, no ceremony is necessary and, contrary to what you may have been led to believe no one has to teach you how to meditate. While instruction may be helpful, it is not essential.

What is the purpose of meditation?

Meditation reestablishes our contact with the Source of Power within us. It cleanses the mind and makes us open and receptive to creative ideas, intuition and inspi­ration. It reveals where we have gone wrong and guides us back to the right path again. We become one with everything and everyone because, as we mediate, we tune into One Mind of the universe. It helps us to achieve our full potential through deep rest of the nervous system. During this time, stress is released and we are fully relaxed and calm. In meditation, we are tuning and training the mind to function at its maximum potential. This is one of the basic reasons why, it is believed, meditation in­creases efficiency in everyday life.

When to meditate

Begin by putting aside a time for meditation at the beginning of each day, preferably before break­fast. This will tune you into the Life Force and program you for the day. Then set aside a similar period in the evening. It is suggested that this be at least four hours before retiring because you will automati­cally be rejuvenated. Your night­time mediation will help you get rid of the negative feelings you have accumulated during the day.

This or a similar schedule should regularly be followed for best results. Meditating once a day is better than meditating twice a day every other day, or every third day. What you are looking for is the cumulative effect. Consistency is an important factor in achieving best results.

One never actually stops med­itating. It is an unending process. Once you start meditating properly, you will never be the same again. The whole idea is to make it a permanent part of your life.

Before you start

The most important thing to remember at the outset is this: DO NOT FIGHT YOUR THOUGHTS. Your mind may be restless; the problem is resistance. The more you resist your thoughts, the more they will get in the way. But once you stop resisting them and let them pass by without giving them your dominant attention, they will cease to intrude.

Meditation is like changing the direction of a wheel. First, we have to slow down the wheel. After we slow it down, we stop it and then start it rolling the other way.

Once your subconscious knows what you are trying to achieve, it will create a habit pattern that will enable you to reach this state of consciousness. Just keep on pro­gramming the new habit into your subconscious and it will take over automatically without any distract­ing effort on your part.

Your direct guidance and intu­ition comes from the Supercon­scious through the subconscious. In order to connect to the Creative Intelligence that expresses itself as you and through you, you have to quiet your conscious mind. It is as if you owned and controlled a great Power House in which a tremendous electric dynamo waited to serve you. Once you allow this Power to enter your conscious­ness, your life will be a powerful experience!

BY CAPT SAM ADDIAH (RTD)

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