In the website full of life quotes, this one stuck out to me because I realized I try living my life by this motto without knowing I was living my life by this motto. Although it can seem pessimistic at times, this is the primary way in which I battle fears or insecurities or any sort of competition. When taking quizzes and tests, I often assume that I got a worse grade than I am likely to just so that I am pleasantly surprised if I get a higher grade. When I pass in things that I worked tirelessly on I tell myself not to expect a hundred. I see it in my friends too, when they say things like “I just failed that quiz” which they so clearly did not, or when I see that they worked really hard on something, they will play it down as if it is nothing special. I think most students (Stang students at least) live by this quote at least in the academic aspect of it.
In a competition setting, this mindset would spare an athlete from feeling down on themselves for not winning. Let’s say I am running a 5K (clearly a hypothetical because I do not run) and despite training I tell myself that I am not going to get first place. The benefits of this mindset would be that I would not be disappointed if I fail to get first place and no matter what it would still be a positive learning experience, because nothing was lost. No matter my placement in the run, I ran it and that is all that matters. If I do get first place, then I am extremely happy because it is unexpected. If I wanted so badly to get first place and I failed then I would have to deal with this loss rather than celebrating the fact that I ran a 5K. If I win then I am not as happy because I expected it. This mindset also comes with humility. If you “expect nothing” then you must believe you have not worked hard enough to expect something. It would even make sense to say the person expects more from his or herself in order to expect something. The most appealing aspect of this mindset is never being disappointed. When I read this quote I immediately think of college acceptances. As of now, I fully expect to be denied from every college I apply to, not because I doubt my intellect (or at least not fully) but because I fear getting my hopes up for a particular school and then getting rejected. This way of life can save so much trouble , and I would recommend it to all.