“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
-T. Roosevelt
Recently I read a sign that made me smile. It said, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” It made me smile because I think that this idiom can make us skeptical. I believe this expression takes us away from positive thinking. Can you plan for a future without faith? Can you follow dreams without hope? Some would argue that it is wiser to be realistic even if it requires a pessimistic view. I would argue that being realistic is a dream killer. Would we have Disneyland if Walt Disney had been realistic and had a “real job” and never pursued his dream of animation? Would we have an Oprah Winfrey if she had not believed that there was something better for her than being a news anchor? I call people who count their chickens before they hatch optimists. They have only positive expectations and prevail most of the time. When they don’t prevail, they readjust their sails, and try again! Those who don’t count their chickens before they hatch are pessimists. They buy into such views because they don’t want to get excited over something that may not happen. In their viewpoint, it’s better not to, as Wikipedia puts it, “expect all of your hopes to be fulfilled.” This view is based on fear. When we think this way, we can talk ourselves out of wonderful things. We know that Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein would not have accomplished what they did, if they had not believed in their dreams first. They stuck with working on their inventions because they were people who “counted their chickens before they hatched.” Look around you. Every invention or creation that was ever fulfilled started with the visualization that it was possible. It started with the belief that it could and would happen. Here are three tips about how to live in optimism and count your chickens before they hatch.
Be clear on your desires.
What do you desire? Do you really want those chickens to hatch? Be clear on your life goals and dreams. If your desire is to be a chef, what type of food do you want to cook? Do you want to own a restaurant or work in a top-rated restaurant? Don’t be afraid to dream big and to ask for big things. If you are desiring to be the CEO of your company, it’s because it’s possible for you. Don’t limit yourself by playing small. When you play small you are taking away from your God-given potential. As I got clear on my desires, amazing people showed up to help make my dreams a reality. I know that this will be true for you also.
Visualize and believe that it’s possible.
Why not try visualization? You have nothing to lose and many wonderful things to gain. Visualization is the first step to your dreams. To visualize is to use your imagination through pictures or mental imagery to create visions of what we want in our lives. Next you must believe in your dreams. To believe is to know without a doubt that what you desire will become. When you play it, safe and don’t count your chickens before they hatch, you bring doubt to your dreams. I believe that this idiom cuts your wings. If you want to pursue something that you have never done before, you must believe that it’s possible. When you truly believe, you are halfway there!
Let go of negativity.
Negativity, be gone! As someone who counts my chickens before they have hatched, I had to let go of worst-case scenarios. I needed to stay positive and only expect positive results. When problems appeared, I learned to see them only as detours to my destination. Don’t complain about your failures; learn from them.
I used to be scared to count my chickens before they hatched. I guess I believed that if I thought positively, I would jinx or bring bad luck to my desires. In my humble mind, positive things could not happen to me. I also believed it was better not to have high expectations, so that I would not be disappointed. You know the strangest thing? I couldn’t believe that great things could happen to me, but I expected bad things to happen all the time! In other words, I assumed that I was not going to get any chickens, and was not able to stay optimistic that my eggs would become chicks. It’s funny how our brain works, or should I say, it’s funny how the brain works us?
I hope that I have influenced you to “count your chickens before they hatch.” You are EXTRAORDINARY, and for this reason you should only see the possibilities, not the limits, of your dreams. Remember, dream big. Only have positive expectations. Until next Monday, Believe. Change. Become.
Sending many blessings and love your way!
Nancy😊