Managing Expectations

Managing Expectations

So one of the things I loathe is when unrealistic expectations are set and then I, or others, are penalized for not reaching them. Likewise I feel the same way about promising rewards when one has no intention or ability to grant said rewards. I feel everyone does much better when those expectations are realistic.

Which leads me to two things this post.

One:

There, likely, will be no blog post next week. I’ll be out of state and have limited access to the website and as such it’s not likely there will be a posting. I could, of course, create a post ahead of time and set it to auto publish on Monday but, A- I’ve never done that so I’d rather be here to see if it works and B- the point of this blog is to share my thoughts and such as I have them. Writing them ahead of time would feel like cheating.

Two:

Managing expectations isn’t just for everyone else.

Certainly you should hold others to the expectations they set and advocate for yourself when they fall short of delivery. And, as well, when you tell others what to expect of you, you must “do the thing.” However I find people often set unrealistic expectations of themselves.

If you stay up an extra two hours past your bedtime are you really going to get two hours of extra work done? Can you really be ready in five minutes and be out the door on time to make that appointment. Are you really going to work out three hours a day four days a week forever?

The worst part about setting unrealistic expectations of ourselves is that when we don’t reach them we feel that much worse. It’s easy to devalue ourselves when we fail these things and attempt these goals. But would you look down on yourself for not setting a Olympic record? Of course not, because the expectation was unrealistic to begin with.

Understanding what you’re capable of when you set your goals is paramount to achieving them. That does NOT mean one should not try to stretch past their limits but there’s a difference between adding one mile and adding seven miles to your daily run.

So, reach for the stars my friends, but build a rocket-ship first.

Thank you my dear readers and God bless;

~S. Wallace