I knew of a team whose leaders had it in their heads that the executive team had no trust in them.
A negative thought like that ascribes negative intent. And in every action the executive team took subsequently, they found confirmation.
Over time, the team started playing more defense as every action involved worrying about criticism and exec reactions. They stopped playing offense. They got less funding — which further cemented this belief. The spiral continued till the exec team ended up losing trust. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
I also know of a team who were objectively in a worse situation than this team. However, they turned it around simply through the absence of that limiting belief.
You see this with people too. Start with a negative assumption, ascribe negative intent, play more defense, spiral. The original thought manifests itself.
Optimism and pessimism are both self-fulfilling prophecies. What we think about, dwell on, and give our attention to has a way of becoming real.
Be careful what you manifest.
A Learning a Day 