by Vania Pokraeva
Often, we start our workday, business meeting or even a holiday trip with certain expectations, painting a picture in our mind of what we believe would happen or what the result of something will be. There is also the case when someone has expectations for you or hypes you up for something only for you to realize later that the expectations might be way off what the reality is. This can inevitably lead to disappointment, discouragement or even heartache (almost palpable physical pain).
Of course, that doesn't mean that this is always the case as sometimes if a situation plays out as we expected, it feels like we won the jackpot, and we praise ourselves for having realistic expectations whatever that might means. If only things were that simple. Your realistic expectations are usually not mine and vice versa. It’s all in how we perceive what is happening around us and how we choose to interpret it in our own world.
Outspoken expectations
Expectations can be especially helpful in a work environment as they can give you guidance of what exactly is expected of you and your work. They can work as a sort of toolkit to manage your personal development, especially if the expectations are discussed and agreed with all involved parties in a respectful manner. When you live up to those ‘outspoken’ expectations, you feel a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, ready to take on another challenge. Managing those expectations can help you grow further.
In other cases, when the expectations are not shared and kept to oneself, this could lead to disagreement and disappointment. Then you find yourself in a situation where you have to exercise ‘damage control’ and try to manage eventually the newly set expectations.
Taking the lead
It all starts in our childhood when others set expectations for you, whether that is your teacher, parent, sibling or society in general. You are expected to be(come) someone, do something or behave in a certain way. Managing all these expectations can prove to be impossible since most of the time we are not even aware of them. We are only told afterwards that we didn’t live up to a certain belief, almost hearing the disappointment in someone’s voice.
What happens if you set yourself certain realistic (in your mind) expectations for your development, growth, your career, or even your personal life? At least, you are playing the main character in your own world of possibilities. What a big difference can this make if you simply not only participate but even take the lead on this?
So, after all, are expectations really the root of all heartache? Or can they be your new path to fulfillment?
Add comment
Comments