Expectation Drives Realization

He who does not expect a million readers, should not write a line.
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe -   (1749 – 1832)

According to Goethe’s quote, if we are not planning to do something in a big way, we shouldn’t do it at all.  This idea is very challenging for many of us because many times we have been taught not to expect big successes in life.  So we make comments like: “I’m going to write this little book” or “start this little business.”  We apply for jobs that we can easily get even though they are not the ones we truly want.  We believe that if we lower our expectations then we can avoid the disappointment of failure and increase our chances of success.  But what we are really doing is setting a limit on what we will achieve.