I read a book once that warned about self deprecation, claiming that any form of self doubt would inevitably become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I didn’t understand the warning much at the time, but it makes much more sense now.  The more we talk about global climate change, the more prevalent signs of the phenomenon become.  The more often news stories cover our “poor economy,” the more desolate the future becomes.  It’s incredibly easy to talk our way into a bad situation, and I’m sure you can think of hundreds of other examples if you just put your mind to it.

“I am going to get fired for this,” might be a frightening revelation on any particular day.  Typically, though, it’s not a universal truth.  When the statement becomes a common recurrence, though, things are in trouble.  When your mind is constantly set on why and how you might lose your job, actually losing your job becomes a larger possibility.

You aren’t necessarily bringing it about through the power of negative thinking, though.  A negative mindset breeds acceptance of an unsavory situation.  You also lose your edge.  A sub-par memo becomes acceptable because, “well, I’m getting fired anyway.”  Your deepest, darkest complaints about co-workers actually see the light of day because, “it won’t matter, I’m sure I’ll lose my job soon.”

The same can translate to a larger scale if your brand’s mindset is shifted towards the negative.  ”Well, this advertising campaign isn’t quite as polished as we’d like.  Then again, no one’s actually buying our widget right now anyway.”  If you say it often enough, it will come true.  Words are powerful things, and whether or not you think an innocent comment can affect your bottom line – it can!!!

The scroll above reflects the future of your market.  It shows in great detail what consumer trends will look like tomorrow, next week, next month, and even next year.  It also lists your sales volume, the effectiveness of your sales staff, and the conversion rate due to your next marketing campaign.  On top of all that, it answers the one question we all care about – “will I still be in business tomorrow?”

Yes, it’s a blank scroll.  The future is not written yet and no one can say with absolute certainty what will be coming down the pipe in the days to come.  All we can do is set our minds to doing our best work and keeping our heads in the game.  If you start to doubt yourself, accept less than your best work, or naysay the future, then you’re already penciling “failure” in large words across this piece of paper.

Think of the scroll above as a prophecy about your firm’s future.  If you were in charge of penning that prophecy, what would you want it to say?  Are you working towards those ends?