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While it may be best to live in the present, anticipation can be a great motivator. We all need something to look forward to, something to work toward. Anticipation can also keep us from getting too wrapped up in what is going on right now, or can help us mange what is going on right now.

Sometimes the anticipation involves the end of something. Maybe there is a big project with a due date. While there may be pressure to get things done, there is also the anticipation that once the deadline passes, things will slow down again. At least for awhile!

The anticipation can also involve something like a vacation. There may be lots to do before you leave, but the anticipation of the trip and the time off makes the effort of getting ready seem not too bad. Once you are on vacation, you might be anticipating getting home!

Anticipation can be used to fuel your goals. If you are anticipating the day when you will have X amount of money, you have a goal to reach. If you are anticipating having X number of people join your downline, you can use that anticipation as motivation to reach that goal. The anticipation of completing a longtime goal can be the best feeling in the world.

Of course, anticipation can work the other way as well. If there is something occurring the in future that you are not looking forward to, the anticipation can be worse than the actual event.

Anticipation can also serve as a different kind of motivator. The anticipation of what will happen if we don't reach a particular goal or get a particular project done can be a reason to definitely reach that goal or complete that project.

In the case of dreaded anticipation, you have to make sure that the anticipation is not making you ineffective and crippling your chances of changing the bad event into a good one. Maybe you can replace the dread anticipation with the good anticipation of knowing that the bad event will be over eventually.

Whether you are using anticipation as a motivator, or whether anticipation is the result of fear, it is important to recognize its existence and manage it to your advantage. While you should definitely live in the present, since we are never guaranteed any tomorrows, we need the joy of anticipating and fear of anticipation and we can use both.

Anticipation the difficult by managing the easy Lao Tzu