Ever heard that you get what you expect? If you expect good things to happen, they are more likely to happen. And vice versa.

But is this true?

I hope it is because it means our fate isn’t pre-determined, we can change our future.

If you don’t like the direction you’re headed, you can change something. You can choose a different strategy. You can work smarter or faster, use different tools, or get some help.

Change what we do, get different results, and we change our expectations for the future.

But we can also change our expectations by changing our attitude.

A simple way to do that is to use different words to describe what we think and how we feel.

Yes, I’m talking about being positive.

We all know negative people who complain a lot and assume the worst. They expect bad things and bad things happen.

They say things like, “What if I go to that event and don’t meet anyone?“ “What if I start a blog and nobody reads it?” “What if I ask her to marry me and she turns me down?“

When I hear someone say, “What if I don’t. . ?“ I think (and usually say), “What if you do?“

Changing our attitude can be as simple as changing our words. It might not change the outcome. . . but what if it does?

If you can’t be positive about certain situations, at least don’t be negative.

I know a lawyer (he’s probably reading this) who has mastered the art of being non-committal about many subjects. When you ask him what he thinks might happen, his usual response is, “We’ll see.”

A decidedly lawyer-like (and poker-like) response, and while it seems to have served him well, I always wonder if adopting a positive attitude might serve him better.