Dragons of Anticipation

Over a thousand years ago before satellites and technology, mapmakers who believed the world was flat would draw large, frightening dragons at the edges of their parchment maps so that explorers could anticipate the disaster and doom beyond the known worlds. These Dragons of Anticipation prevented these explorers from pushing themselves forward to discover new lands. Of course, there were other explorers such as the Scandinavians who saw the Dragons of Anticipation as opportunities to explore new worlds and new peoples. In fact these sea faring explorers actually used Dragon as their ships mastheads.

Today, each of us has our own Dragons of Anticipation at the very edges of our mental maps. These maps hold all the information we use to guide our daily behaviors. And unfortunately, sometimes these Dragons create a self-fulfilling prophecy. We believe (think) something with enough intensity, our actions (behaviors) reflect the results of those beliefs.

What happens is either we anticipate fear of something going to go wrong or have faith that something will go right. In the first case, our potential, the ability to go beyond what we know to be true is restricted while in the second case our potential is released allowing us to expand and grow.

Henry Ford recognized the existence of these Dragons when he said "Whether you think you can or you think you cannot, either way you are right." For our brains and our minds working together can create a world of opportunity or one of scarcity.

Napoleon Hill in his best selling book Think and Grow Rich centered all efforts to improve one's lot in life around the brain. Human beings may not have control of what enters their brains through their sensory organs such as ears, sight or even touch. However, they have 100% control of what they allow to stay in their brains.

So what Dragons of Anticipation are residing at the corners of your Mental Maps? Until they are at least acknowledged, it is quite probable you will not finish your journey with all the abundance that you deserve. Invest the time to know yourself so that you can choose what map path to walk and then create an action plan to get from where you are now to where you want to be. And who knows along the way, you may discover a friendly Dragon that only wants a loving pet from you.

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Executive sales coach and consultant, Leanne Hoagland-Smith partners with innovative leaders who want to improve team results without reinventing the wheel. Call 219.759.5601 CDT USA to just have a conversation about the results you are seeking.