The Simpsons is a Matt Groening classic comedy cartoon that almost everyone has seen. One of the key characters, Homer Simpson, is a bad husband, terrible father and incompetent employee. So how can he teach you how to live the life of your dearms and attain all your goals? Why is he a personal development guru?

Well, Homer is a perefect example of how many people think. He can be used as a mirror for our own beliefs. His famous quotes are lengendary yet they are such a poignantly accurate reflection of the common mindset that it is sad.

Once he said "Trying is the first step towards failure" and another time he said "you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is - never try".

Now although these quotes may be funny it is unfortunate that many people live their lives holding these very same views.

The problem with the modern mindset is the expectation of failure which therefore leads to the fear of even trying! There are many, many people who have been conditioned into believing that they cannot attain their desires. They feel that pursuing their goals is useless, at best, and harmful at worse. Some think goal setting can harm them because the failure that may ensue would only robe them further of their confidence and self esteem. It is true that constant failure and the inability to reach your objectives can be damaging to your self belief. But, this can only occur if you allow it to happen. Why? Because, there is no such thing as failure - there is only giving up!

To quote another famous character, Yoda from Star Wars, "With you it is always what can not be done....... Just do, or do not! There is no try! " When you say you will "try" to do something, you are holding the expectation that you may fail. No longer try to reach your objectives. Instead expect to reach them!

In order to be successful with our personal development goals, or anything else in life, you must hold the expectation of success.

Now at first, when you tell yourself you will succeed, your subconscious mind will rebel. It will remind you how often in the past you failed. It will bring to your conscious attention all the factors that are against you. It will highlight all the obstacles that you now face and will face in the future. This is merely your own internal resistance. This resistance stems from negative mental programming but with persistence you can overcome this programming and with perseverance you can reach any goal!

Your expectation plays a major role in your life. In personal development, just like everything, you must expect to succeed. Expect miracles! Expecting success and resisting the urge to wallow in the negative thoughts that your subconscious spews at you will change your life in ways you cannot now imagine.

The simple fact is, doing this can cause you no harm at all and at the very least will make you feel better. It is important to be aware of the fact that your focus is everything in life. What you focus on always increases in your life. Your focus on anything expands that thing. Quantum physics is now telling us that consciousness itself is the driving force of the universe. It is the creator of matter. Direct your conscious attention towards what you want and away from what you don't want, with the expectation of success, and you will begin to attract to yourself miracles!

What is the worst that can happen? I suppose the worst is you will not get what you want. But remember what I said earlier, there is no such thing as failure only giving up!

However, it is a universal truth that your focus determines your reality! If you begin to focus on what you have now that you are grateful for and also on what you want then you will create more of those things in your life. What you expect you tend to get. So expect success and you will get success! This is personal development at its most basic, and powerful, level!