The Relationship Between Expectation and Outcome

January 4th 2009 at 10:08 am

Since I’ve been working on my own 2009 predictions in the back of my head, I’m particularly attuned to other articles about the topic.  I’m amazed at how many of them are downright negative.

Expectations are a driver of the outcomes.  They are not the only driver (I’m not nearly that new-age!) but they matter.  We’ve come to that conclusion in everything from the linkage between consumer confidence and spending to the way ill people respond to placebos.  It’s part of our core personaility as a species.

If we want a better future, we need to make positive decisions that drive at positive outcomes now, yet almost everything I’ve read talks about the short term (rather than the long term) and seems to suggest we have no say at all in the future.  It’s all about forces that have escaped us – the forces of war and famine, climate change and global movement of money, greedy politicians and shortages.  I do actually think we’ll face some tough times in 2009, but what a great opportunity to take stock and look forward and plan for better things.

Pardon the slight rant, but I’ve just read about 5 downright un-empowered opinions that are prognosticating doom, gloom, and the end of the world as we know it.  We need to get (and keep) a grip.

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