“You get out of it what you put into it.”

Mama didn’t always say this aloud, but she taught me this with her life.

And she’s right.

Me, my mom, and my sister – 2011

Much of the time, if you take a crappy attitude into an experience, the experience will be crappy.  If you go into something with a positive attitude, the experience can be positive.

There are always exceptions we could discuss.  I’m sure you have stories to the contrary as do I.  But I am confident in saying that my mom’s lesson holds true the majority of the time.

It has to do with the fact that what we expect to happen is usually what happens: We make our expectations reality.  It’s called self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you tell yourself beforehand that something is going to suck, that you’re going to hate it, then that’s probably what will happen.

You’ve mentally set yourself up for it. You’ve predisposed yourself for it to happen.

Mentally, you’ve shut down or closed-off – expecting the worst.  You’re less likely to hear and properly receive things that are said.  Your body language is communicating negativity, and that will influence your interactions with other people, too.

It’s just all-around a bad deal.

But the opposite is true as well.  If you tell yourself this thing you’re about to do might be fun, you might learn something new or meet some new people, or at least get to see a new place, the outcome is probably going to be much more positive.

Image Credit: A Symphony of Praise Blog

You set yourself up for a favorable outcome because that is what you expect – that the experience will be positive.  Since you’re in a positive mind-frame, that will physically show in your body which will have an influence on other people around you.

You’ll probably have a positive experience.

Don’t believe me?  Try it next time you have to do something – especially something new.  Give yourself a pep talk.  Tell yourself it’ll be interesting.  You’ll learn something new.  You’ll meet some interesting people.  Maybe the food will be really good or the scenery will be pretty.

Image Credit: TheBible.com

Think of positive things and your frame of mind has to respond.  It will have a good influence over your experience.

Image Credit: KLove

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