Daily Mindset

“The past is not predictive of the future.”

A short story to share.

Mike is an 18 year old high school student, who has struggled throughout his entire academic career… specifically, with taking tests. But he’s making his way by, just barely, until he reaches the biggest academic test of his life – his SAT’s.

Out of a near 1600, he scores 1480.

Mike returns home to his mother, and with all the love a mother has, questions quietly: how? How on Earth? Are you sure you didn’t cheat? They have dinner together, and celebrate his incredible scores as they talk about college.

From that point forward, Mike decides he is smart after all. After years of consistent skipping, he decides to go to class. He starts consistently scoring A’s, and doesn’t see a C for the remainder of his high school career. He goes onto the Ivy League, and starts a very successful magazine company. Mike grows a multi-million dollar business.

And six years later, he then receives a letter in the mail from the SAT board.
There was a mistake.
The letter reads that the scores were mixed up between him and another student.
As it turned out, Mike actually scored a 740.

People think his own life changed when he got the 1480. It didn’t.
Mike changed his life when he changed his behavior.
The past is indeed real. But the only time it becomes predictive of the future, is if it changes how we act… today.