3 amazing effects of belief and expectation

In the classic movie, Indiana Jones, The Last Crusade, Jones played by Harrison Ford is standing at the edge of a deep valley. In order to get to the other side and to the Holy Grail and save his father, he must take a leap of faith as the ancient book in his hand suggests: “only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.”Jones says out loud: “impossible, nobody can jump this” and “it’s a leap of faith.”  As he takes his first step into thin air, a bridge magically appears under him.This small but powerful scene demonstrates the amazing power of belief and taking the first step to the great treasures that lie beyond our immediate reach. Of course, this example is fictional and serves as a metaphor for belief and taking the steps towards our goals. 

Do you begin a project hoping and expecting the best? But as you move along, do you begin having moments of self-doubt and lack of belief in yourself and your abilities?

Do you allow this lack of self-belief to put the brakes on your expectations and your creative work?

Three ways that you can become aware of the damaging effects of lack of self-belief and poor expectations and action tips that you can implement right away:

1. Belief and expectation in a person can make them perform better

If you do not strongly believe in yourself and your work, you will communicate that energy to the world and sell yourself short.  Begin your journey into deep and lasting self-belief by first asserting your importance to yourself. Choose to use kind and empowering language when you speak to yourself.

Take the first step towards believing that you really do matter to this world.

In research done in classrooms by eminent Harvard professor Dr. Robert Rosenthal, students who were expected to perform better by their teachers actually did a lot better when compared to other students.

According to Dr. Rosenthal, coaches who expect their athletes to perform better actually do better. In other words, belief in a person and higher expectations of their performance actually makes them perform better in real life.

This amazing result has been termed: “the Pygmalion effect” by Dr. Rosenthal. For more information, check out this post by NPR.

Questions and Action tips:

Do you believe in yourself and what you do on a regular basis?

Do you expect yourself to succeed?

Do you keep company with people who believe in you and expect you to perform well?

Can you begin to take small steps towards greater self-belief and positive expectations from yourself and your work?

2. Self-belief equals confidence in yourself and having great self-worth

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” –J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

If you believe in yourself and what you do, you will project that confidence out for the world to see. The belief just shines through in everything that you do.

Deep belief goes hand-in-glove with self-confidence and self-worth.

Having a poor self-image results in a lack of belief in yourself and your work and that results in a lack of confidence. Even though we do not say a word, the lack of belief and confidence shines through in our actions.

Action tips:  

The next time you catch yourself irrationally doubting and putting yourself and your work down, choose to go easy on yourself.

Realize that self-belief, confidence and self-worth are related.

Choose to slowly develop a strong self-belief that is rooted in solid self-worth and allow the resulting confidence to shine through to the world.

As you take the first step and commit deeply to moving forward towards your dreams and desires, expect great things to unfold.