Relationships. At work. Your kids school. Your career. Education. Body.
All of us have been letdown.
All of us have let people down.
And it will happen again.
In the midst of all this gloom, it is avoidable to not be letdown.
You could take the easy way out and have no expectations of people and simply expect to be letdown. If you do this though, you will miss the chance for relationships, community and enjoying life. You’ll simply walk around waiting for the other shoe to drop, which will keep you from trusting and ultimately, living.
A better way is to clarify and evaluate expectations.
Here’s what I mean. If you are a boss, do the people who work for you know what is expected of them? Do they know the win for your team and organization? If not, you will be letdown at some point because you are evaluating them on a scale they are unaware of.
What about relationships?
This is where most of our disappointment and letdown lies, especially if you are married.
Most married couples can tell you what they expect of their spouse, chores, reactions, attention, etc. Yet, most couples have never told each other what those are. They walk around us a smug silence, pointing out in their heads how disappointed they are and then they return the favor. A cycle simply continues until you get to the place where you can’t take it anymore, resign yourself to the fact that this is as good as it gets or worse.
What if, you began clarifying your expectations in all walks of your life? What if you told the people you work with, have a relationship with, your expectations? What if your kids knew instead of you just getting frustrated? What if your spouse or employees knew?
What if you work for someone and they are frustrating you? Have a conversation, let them know what would be best for you.
Will this always work? No, but then at least you’ll know. But as long as you don’t tell them, you are saying no for them and that rarely works out.
Until it’s been clarified, we don’t have a right to be mad at the person who doesn’t meet our expectations.
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