This little story comes from Dan Millman's Newsletter (October, 2005)
"...the power of our emotions and expectations to influence our behavior is a paradox that can work for or against us. So I encourage people to become aware of the power of expectations, beliefs, imagery, and emotions. And as the following story illustrates, the power of positive expectations can sometimes work in our favor:
George, a Berkeley graduate student in mathematics, arrived late to class and quickly copied two problems for the day from the blackboard, assuming they were the homework assignment. He found them extremely difficult—the hardest the professor had ever assigned. He worked late into the night, and the next night as well, trying without success to solve them. But he persisted, and several days later, he experienced a breakthrough. George slipped his solutions into a pile of papers on the professor’s desk the following day. On a Sunday morning not long after, George was awakened by a pounding on his door. George was surprised to find his professor, who exclaimed, “George, you’ve solved them!”
“Yes,” George answered. “Wasn’t I supposed to?”
The professor explained that those two problems were not homework, but famous problems that had puzzled the world’s leading mathematicians— problems that George had solved in a few days.
George Dantzig is now a mathematics professor at Stanford University. His feat may have inspired the critical plot point in the film Good Will Hunting. If George had known that these were two famous unsolved problems, he might not have even tried to solve them. But what George expected was doable, he did.
By accepting and paying attention to our expectations and emotions, we can learn from them, even as we continue to live on purpose.
It is not easy to behave constructively in the face of negative expectations or emotions, ...and not easy to say a kind word when we feel angry or sad. But whether or not life is easy, and despite our expectations or emotions, our behavior ultimately determines the quality of life we create."
And may I just point to the words of Henry Ford:
"Those who believe they can, and those who believe they can’t, are both right."
Enjoy the ride!
Steve
