Expect the Best

“Expect the best, prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

                                                  Zig Ziglar

     People are often quoted as saying the quickest path to happiness is to not have any expectations.  There is truth to that statement because of the fact that we can’t always predict what will happen in life so we often will not realize our specific expectations.  This can lead to a lot of unhappiness.  To avoid unhappiness you refrain from having specific expectations but instead follow the process of expecting the best, preparing for the worst and capitalizing on what comes.  Following this process will lead to a positive outcome in every situation.

Expect the Best

     It is important to always expect the best in every situation. This doesn’t mean that you can completely define how things will turn out.  None of us have the power to accomplish that feat. However we all have the ability to tap into the power of your mind.  Expecting the best is a positive thought that will lead to positive actions.  Positive actions will then lead to positive results.  With this power you have the ability to get the best out of every situation because you expect it.  All you need to do is simply affirm that you expect the best each and every time.

Prepare for the Worst

     Expecting the best can easily transition to preparing for the worst.  Preparation is a self-protective act that shouldn’t be confused with having negative thoughts about the situation.  Preparing for the worst is a discipline.  It is a discipline that should be followed regardless of the situation.  You should always avoid expecting to access that preparation but you be should prepared anyway. It is the smart and prudent thing to do and often it is one of the hardest things to do. That is where the discipline comes in.  It takes discipline to save money in case you may need it in the event of a financial crisis. It takes discipline to exercise regularly in case you may need your strength in the event of a catastrophic accident.  It takes discipline to read numerous books in case you need to access that knowledge when plan A crashes and burns.

     After expecting the best and preparing for the worst something will happen in your life.  There will be an outcome.  This will be the outcome that you can’t fully control.  Now that the outcome is here you only have one job left to do.  Your job now is to capitalize on that outcome. 

Capitalize on the Outcome

     If the endeavor was a success capitalize on it by celebrating.  No matter how big or small you should celebrate your success.  Share your success with others so they can benefit from it as well.  Many people call this action paying it forward.  Study your success and learn how to repeat them in the future.  Don’t miss the opportunity to develop new habits or improve current ones when they have been proven to be successful.

     If your endeavor was a failure capitalize on it by learning from it.  Determine what went wrong and how you can avoid it in the future.  Don’t waste time feeling sorry that it went wrong.  Instead use that energy to analyze and develop plans for the future.  You should also determine what went right and how you can continue to do it in the future. The overall endeavor may have failed but there are things you did well that you need to continue doing in the future.  There is always something to learn in failure and don’t miss out on the opportunity to capitalize on them.

     This is a simple approach to that can be incorporated on any scale.  It doesn’t matter if your endeavor is a plan for a weekend spring cleaning or the launch of a billion dollar device.  No matter how small or large you should approach every endeavor in your life by expecting the best, preparing for the worst and capitalizing on the actual outcome.  Thank you Zig Ziglar for the great reminder.

Have a great week,

Drew