Expect Great Things
Freshman year of high school I joined the swim team after getting cut from basketball tryouts.
I was a terrible swimmer. In fact, I couldn’t even dive into the pool. By all measures I would never amount to much. I was skinny, out of shape and lost. Most people, myself included, expected to spend the season in Lane 1, the graveyard of untalented rookies.
One day my coach pulled me out of the pool. We sat on the bleachers and I expected him to tell me I was kicked off the team because we had too many swimmers. There was little chance I would amount to much, so why keep me around?
What he said, however, changed me forever. He said:
“Carter, I’ve seen thousands of guys come through this swim program. And you have got something special. One day your name will be on the record board. But you have to do exactly what I say and work harder than you have ever worked.”
I was in shock. What? I was the worst swimmer in the pool and here was my coach, a god among men (never lost a swim meet in 28 years), telling me I was going to be one of the greats?
In that moment I was reprogrammed. I no longer expected to fail, I expected to win. I expected to get my name on the record board. It was now destined to happen.
For all I know, my coach told every freshman this same thing. It doesn’t matter. It was exactly what I needed to hear at that time.
Two years later I found myself at the NY State finals looking at the scoreboard to see a time that would get my name on the record board.
The power of expectancy.
Over the last two years our collective expectancy has been obliterated. For years we have been told that if we do certain things, we should expect certain outcomes. Our society has been built on that idea.
Go to college and you should expect to get a great job. Take these pills and you should expect to be happy again. Follow this blueprint of growing up and you should expect to live happily ever after.
We have all grown up expecting certain things to happen only to realize a lot of those things were bullshit.
This can turn people negative and pessimistic about the future. Why believe in anything? If I don’t expect any of these truths to be valid, what’s the point?
This drives people to drown themselves in dopamine. Hours of video games every day. Mindless scrolling on social media. Porn, junk food, fear.
If you don’t expect good things to happen, the pleasure cycle will take over.
It’s very hard to do on your own. I get it. I fall into that cycle too. If you’re by yourself it can be difficult to find things to be hopeful about, to see a positive direction for our lives.
The worst part is that it’s a slow, soul crushing process. Without positive expectancy, a tiny piece of us turns off each day. The light dims.
That’s not how it has to be.
There is a choice that we can make every morning. That choice is to expect great things to happen to us.
For example — let’s say you have a meeting this afternoon. It’s easy to expect it to be miserable because every other meeting has been miserable. But it’s possible to expect that meeting to be a positive experience. It’s possible that something great could come from it.
Or maybe you go to bed expecting the weather to be cold and rainy tomorrow, ruining your plans for a long run outside. What if you expected it to be a good day no matter what? What if you expected it all to be great regardless of the weather?
Either scenario is possible. You just have to choose even if you don’t feel like choosing.
In crypto, I see this a lot in myself and in others. There is a maginot line between people who expect great things to happen to them and those that do not.
“I am part of the future, I own great assets and I am going to win” vs “I hope this cycle isn’t over, I hope the assets I own go up and I hope I never experience bear market pain again.”
This attitude shift is responsible for the direction of your life and your portfolio.
When you look at the assets you own, do you expect to see the vision of those ideas come to life? Do you expect your decisions to be sound? Do you expect that over time, you will win and be blessed with abundance?
Or do you look at your assets and hope that they go up? Do you secretly expect that you’ll realize you’re an idiot and you shouldn’t be an investor at all? Do you expect to wake up and check the price and it has gone limit down, validating all the fears you have?
We have all experienced both of these extremes. I know I have. In 2018–2019 I spent months living in a spiritual drawdown, waking up each day expecting the worst and hoping for the best.
It’s time to start expecting great things to happen to you.
The key is to do the work required for those great things to happen.
When we buy a project that someone in discord shills us, deep down our subconscious knows we didn’t do the work to understand the investment.
From Reminiscences of a Stock Operator:
“A man must believe in himself and his judgment if he expect to make a living at this game. This is why I don’t believe in tips. If I buy a stock on Smith’s tip I must sell those same stocks on Smith’s tip. I am depending on him. Suppose Smith is away on holiday when the selling time comes around? No, sir, nobody can make big money on what someone else tells him to do.”
Borrowed conviction kills our ability to expect great things. Deep down we know we didn’t do the work. Expectancy is replaced with hope. That is a losing game.
Do the research, get in the communities, listen to the AMAs, read the whitepapers, talk to the devs, crystalize the vision. Get to the point where you are so sure of what the future looks like you are excited to see it come to life.
This is how you train your mind to expect great things.
We live in a world where the future is uncertain. In many ways it’s rational to expect nothing good to happen, especially when you step out of the matrix.
Don’t let that happen.
Do the work to own things you understand and believe in. Build habits that make your body and mind strong. Train yourself to believe in a great future for yourself and for your family.
Live a life expecting great things.
