Did you ever worry about something only to see it happen a few moments later? Maybe you imagined a boring party, a disappointing date, or a frustrating experience. And your predictions came true.

Expectations

Research has shown that our expectations shape our future. We create what we expect.

In one research study, two teachers were given students with average cognitive ability. One teacher was told that all of her students were gifted and talented. The other teacher was told that her students had a below average cognitive ability.

After one year of instruction, the test scores reflected each of the teacher’s expectations. The teacher who was expecting high achieving students created them. The teacher who thought her students were low achievers also saw this belief reflected in the students’ test scores.

That’s how powerful our expectations are. If we have high and positive expectations, we will create a more positive future for ourselves.

The same is reported by doctors with the placebo effect. When testing a new drug or treatment, patients are separated in two groups. One group is given the real medicine. The other group is given a sugar pill or placebo that looks just like the real medicine but there is no active drug in the tablet.

Despite the lack of an active drug, many patients in the placebo group report that they feel better and their symptoms diminish. The expectations of feeling better creates well-being in the body.

We experience what we belief will happen.

So why not create the life we want to live? That’s what the best-case scenario strategy is all about. By focusing our mind and energy on what we want to happen we will help to create it.

What is the Best-Case Scenario Strategy?

The best-case scenario strategy is a plan about what you want to experience in your life.

It could be in a few minutes, tomorrow, next month, next year, or in 5 years.

Even if our future is uncertain and we don’t know what is going to happen next, we usually know what we would like to happen. We base our choices on possible outcomes and predictions about what we would like our future to look like.

Let’s give it a try. If you need to make a stressful phone call, close your eyes and imagine exactly what you would like to happen in the conversation. What do you expect from the communication? Take a deep breath. Relax. Picture in your mind the conversation as you would like it to happen. Write it down. Then, make the phone call. The positive results will surprise you.

If you have a performance or review meeting with your boss, prepare for the best-case scenario. Imagine what you would like to happen. Picture all the details. What you will say and how the other person will respond.

Put your best-case scenario on paper. Writing down your expectations and dreams for the next days and weeks will give direction to your imagination and decisions. If you have a clear picture in your mind of what you want, you will make decisions easily.

How does the Best-Case Scenario Work?

By writing down your expectations about your future, your mind will selectively and unconsciously scan the environment for ways to help you create the future of your dreams.

As a result, if you want to buy a house, your positive expectations will guide you to:

• start noticing houses for sale in your neighborhood

• become aware of the prices

• find out how much a house costs

• learn how prices change according to the square feet and the neighborhood

• think about how much money you need to afford the house

• research requirements for a mortgage

• investigate what mortgage is most appropriate for you

• compare prices in different neighborhoods.

• decide if you can afford a house in your current neighborhood

• consider were you want to live

• find out if other areas close by are more inexpensive and still appropriate for you

• calculate how much money you need for a down payment,

• research options to come up with the money, etc.

Everyday your brain will be looking for information that will bring you closer to where you want to go. It may take a couple of months or years until you buy and move into your own house but having positive expectations about it will get the process started.

If you keep complaining about the rising prices of houses or how difficult it is to buy a house, you will not be living in your own house because you will be too busy complaining.

Who will benefit the most from the Best-Case Scenario Strategy?

Everyone will benefit from writing down their expectations about their future, but this is especially important for people who complain about their current circumstances or feel they are stuck in life.

The feeling of being stuck is because we are unable to decide about what we want and what is important to us. If we focus on what we don’t like we will get more of it. By having a clear picture of what we want, we will create a path toward it.

Common Pitfalls of the Best-Case Scenario Strategy:

The most common pitfall is thinking about the best-case scenario but never taking any action. Lack of time and innumerable distractions can impact our ability to sit down in a quiet place and plan our future. We think we will do it later but never do it. Time goes by, we forget, and our life slips away.

The second most common problem is fear of limiting oneself or feeling paralyzed by all the possibilities. We don’t want to write down our expectations because they may change or we are not sure what we want.

Would I be happier living on a farm or in a beach house? Should I aspire to be promoted at my current job or start my own business? Nobody can predict the future. Keep in mind what you know about yourself today and you can re-write the best case scenario as often as you want.

The third most common problem is thinking that if my expectation is to earn more money, everything will fall in place once I have a lot of money. Once I earned the amount of money I set as a goal, I will decide where I want to live, what car I want to drive, what clothes I like to wear, who I want to spend my time with, or what activities I enjoy the most.

Thinking that money will bring everything I want in life is an illusion. There are documented cases of wealthy people who worked hard all their lives to enjoy themselves during retirement. After selling their companies and having all the time and money they always wanted, they are still not sure what to do or what they like.

The fourth most common problem is including other people expectations instead of our own desires. Family and friends have their own ideas of what we should do, be, or have. It’s not always easy to separate what we like and makes us happy from what others think will make us happy. Make sure you focus on your own feelings.

How will the best case scenario strategy help with your mood?

Every single decision in our life is a choice under a degree of uncertainty but at the same time every day we create our own future by the choices we make.

We could imagine a positive future where everything is possible or we could imagine a dire, dark, and pessimistic tomorrow. Good and bad things alternate in our lives.

We have control over some events but not over all of them. The point of the best=case scenario strategy is to take control over the events that we can change. We make choices everyday that can lead us to the life of our dreams or in the opposite direction.

In conclusion, by knowing what is important to you and what steps will get you closer to your goal you are creating your future every day. One choice at a time.