A few weeks ago, Mr. Martinou was talking about expectations. He told a story of his childhood. When he was about 12, he decided to see if he could jump over the families piano bench… The long way.
So he put the piano bench in the living room, got a running start from the kitchen, and jumped over it. He BARELY made it. Then, he decided to *challenge* himself. He put a pillow on top, and jumped it again. Again, he barely made it… he added a book, and barely made it. Pretty soon, he had chairs, blankets, pillows, books and stuffed animals piled on the piano bench — and he was barely making it. Now, if you look at how far he jumped the first time (About 3 ft) compared to how far he was jumping near the end, (about 8 ft) there is a big difference. However, when he had been jumping only 3 feet, he only expected to make it that far. So he kept at it, and eventually reached FAR longer than what he thought was his limit. A lot of people don’t expect themselves to achieve very much. They don’t expect themselves to make goals and fulfill them. Because of this, the only do what they expect of themselves, and that is far lower than their potential.
Another story Mr. Martinou shared was about a college professor from Harvard. The man wanted to do an experiment, so he made about 100 plain IQ tests which he titled: Harvard specialized exam. He then passed them out to students attending Junior High. The teachers and students all thought these were indeed Harvard Specialized Exams, instead of normal IQ tests. The man from Harvard collected the finished exams. Then, after grading them, he randomly (RANDOMLY. like closed his eyes and pointed to a test) selected 3 returned tests from each classroom he had visited. He then took the tests to each individual teacher, and told them that (I don’t know the names… let’s just go with.. ) Miranda, Stetson, and Julia were about to get a HUGE jump in their IQ. He told the teachers that the students he had randomly chosen, were destined to become great leaders someday. He then came back to those schools years later, and discovered that the students he had brought to attention *had* done better than the other students, and had been more successful in future years. Oh, one more thing? The students never found out the results of the tests. Those who succeeded never knew that the teachers believed they would be leaders someday. The reason they did well was because of their teachers expectations. Because of what their mentors thought they were capable of.
So he put the piano bench in the living room, got a running start from the kitchen, and jumped over it. He BARELY made it. Then, he decided to *challenge* himself. He put a pillow on top, and jumped it again. Again, he barely made it… he added a book, and barely made it. Pretty soon, he had chairs, blankets, pillows, books and stuffed animals piled on the piano bench — and he was barely making it. Now, if you look at how far he jumped the first time (About 3 ft) compared to how far he was jumping near the end, (about 8 ft) there is a big difference. However, when he had been jumping only 3 feet, he only expected to make it that far. So he kept at it, and eventually reached FAR longer than what he thought was his limit. A lot of people don’t expect themselves to achieve very much. They don’t expect themselves to make goals and fulfill them. Because of this, the only do what they expect of themselves, and that is far lower than their potential.
Another story Mr. Martinou shared was about a college professor from Harvard. The man wanted to do an experiment, so he made about 100 plain IQ tests which he titled: Harvard specialized exam. He then passed them out to students attending Junior High. The teachers and students all thought these were indeed Harvard Specialized Exams, instead of normal IQ tests. The man from Harvard collected the finished exams. Then, after grading them, he randomly (RANDOMLY. like closed his eyes and pointed to a test) selected 3 returned tests from each classroom he had visited. He then took the tests to each individual teacher, and told them that (I don’t know the names… let’s just go with.. ) Miranda, Stetson, and Julia were about to get a HUGE jump in their IQ. He told the teachers that the students he had randomly chosen, were destined to become great leaders someday. He then came back to those schools years later, and discovered that the students he had brought to attention *had* done better than the other students, and had been more successful in future years. Oh, one more thing? The students never found out the results of the tests. Those who succeeded never knew that the teachers believed they would be leaders someday. The reason they did well was because of their teachers expectations. Because of what their mentors thought they were capable of.
Now think about it. How often have you expected a lot of yourself? How far do you push yourself? If you have low expectations for yourself, you can never truly exceed them. However, if you set high expectations for yourself, you will find that your actual limit was much higher than you originally thought.
Another good point I got from this, is that a leader/mentor’s attitude does make a difference. If they expect you to go far, you will. If they expect you to fail, you probably will. If you are ever in a leadership opportunity, you should have high expectations for everyone that you associate with. Even if you’re not a leader, you should have high expectations. For everyone. It really does make a difference!
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