No Expectations? Not Happening.

I must have heard this thousands of times - "Have no expectations, and you will have no disappointments". But the human mind (atleast mine) doesn't work that way. Consciously or unconsciously, one has expectations about almost every single thing in life. The strength of these expectations can be anything between deep conviction and mild hope. 

 

Sometimes things happen the way we want them to, most times they don't. But that’s not a reason to stop expecting anything at all. That feels too pessimistic to me. I’m going to expect a pay check out of a job, I’m gong to expect a good meal at a restaurant, I’m going to expect a certain minimum out of life. 

Expectations drive the world, in a way. If you don’t expect a good grade, would you put in the effort to study for an exam? If you don’t expect good standards at work, there’s going to be a lot of slacking around. Most of my behaviour every day is meeting expectations, both mine and others’. I am expected to show up for work on time and deliver. In return I expect to get paid. Basic stuff like this, when you look closely at it, is based on an exchange of expectations that results in creating value in the real world.

Problem arise, though, with managing expectations. Nobody is perfect. I can’t expect to be a hundred per cent productive each and  every day. Neither can I expect it of anyone else. We all need buffers. 

So the key here, I think, is to have expectations but not be too hard on either yourself or the others in your personal and professional life. The expectation of having no expectations is itself an unrealistic expectation (See what I did there?) and we need to retire this tired cliché once and for all.