What Do You Expect?
By Robert Inesta, DC, L.Ac, CCSP
Do you want to enjoy good health? It seems safe to say that the answer is most likely, “Yes.” Now, do you expect to enjoy good health? This answer may be quite different.
I recently heard an audio clip of a speech by a motivational speaker named Les Brown. He told a story about a conversation he had with his son in which Les asked if he wanted to be successful. Of course the answer was yes. He then asked if he expected to be successful based on his current behavior. His son fell silent and couldn’t answer. I found this simple conversation to be incredibly powerful and it really made me think.
The definition of “expect” according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary is, “to think or believe that something will probably or certainly happen.” If we want something that we don’t have, we must change our behavior in order to get it. When our behavior is in line with the results we want, we can then expect to have those results. When we have an expectation, our behavior should meet or even exceed the expectation. It is a very simple formula.
So I will ask again, do you expect to enjoy good health?
What are you feeding your body? How are you moving? How are you sleeping? How are you thinking? How are you feeling? How do you manage stress? What are you feeding your brain? What are you learning? Who and what are your influences? What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you listening to? What are you focused on? Are you focused on problems or solutions? Are you focused on what you want or what you don’t want? What are your dreams? What are you working towards? How are you spending money? How are you earning money? How are your relationships? What are you doing? What are you contributing? The list goes on, but I think you get the point. All of the above significantly affect our health. Taking a closer look at ourselves, it becomes evident that we have more control over our lives than we typically think we have.
I challenge you to take a look within and ask yourself some of these questions. Write them down. Write the answers. Then ask yourself what do you expect? This is a great step. If you don’t like the answer, then make a change. Take another step, then another, then another…
I’ll conclude with a great quote from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go”:
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.