“Jumping into anything with low expectations is the best way to exceed expectations, so keep that in mind when deciding your next move.”
Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 131)
Beyond the Quote (79/365)
Rather than low expectations, try no expectations. When you hold a stance that maintains expectations, you are putting energy into a future result that will distract you from your present task. Once you have made up your mind about what your next move will be, do just that. And focus all of your resources on doing that task to the best of your ability—not into acquiring a certain result. Maintain the mindset of now and empty your mind of what might happen in the future. This is how you will produce your best work and this is how you will best take care of the tasks you set out to do. And as the saying goes, taking care of this moment is the best insurance you have for the next moment.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t have goals. Goals and expectations are different. Expectations represent things that you plan on getting (or happening) in the future, whereas goals represent targets with which we can aim. Without an aim, our tasks won’t have a meaning or direction. Without expectations however, we are freed from the pressure of acquiring those things that we fill our minds up with and we are able to devote our full capabilities and potential to the now. This is where all future success happens anyway—in the successful collective of fully utilized, present moments.
Let’s take a look at an example. Let’s say you get hired to give a public speech. Your goal, of course, is to do the best job you can and to make the speech engaging, informative, and of value for the audience. That goal provides you an aim and will set you forth on the right path of preparation. You would need to research and do proper planning on the audience (who you’re speaking to), the topic (what you’re speaking about or what specifically would provide the most value for the audience), the venue (how many people are expected and if there are other presenters), and the delivery (how you can make what you’re presenting stick in the minds of the audience and leave a lasting impression). The task then would be to block out and prioritize time accordingly to ensure that you could manage each of those tasks fully and with all of your resources. The goal provides the aim, the aim lays out the tasks, and your ability to stay focused and present on the work at hand will lead you to your best results.
Now, let’s add expectations into the mix. What happens when we jump into this opportunity to give a speech with low expectations? Well, either A) You have low expectations of yourself and you under-prep or under-deliver. You still might be able to perform well and come out exceeding your expectedly low expectations, but you can quickly see how this type of mindset will lead you to sub-optimal results. Or B) You have low expectations of the opportunity itself and you under-prep or under-deliver. If you go into this opportunity thinking it’s going to be small, informal, low pressure, not a big deal kind of event… then you certainly won’t produce your best work. Why would you?
What about high expectations though? Wouldn’t it follow that if you had high expectations of yourself that you would produce better? Not necessarily. High expectations can certainly lead you to become a high producer, but not without its costs. High expectations lead to high stress (because you are planning and must achieve that high result), high anxiety (because you are projecting yourself into the future and worrying about how things will play out), wasted time (because of the constant worry, stress, mental projections, and coping attempts to keep calm and focused), and suffering (because it is very rare that things EVER turn out as expected—and that delta of missing the mark produces upset and disappointment). Even if you have high expectations AND you exceed those expectations, I would argue that you still would have produced better if you approached the tasks with no expectations at all. It also would have led to less stress, less anxiety, more prep time, and less suffering in the process.
It’s as David Goggins reminds us in his book, Can’t Hurt Me, “In the military we always say we don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” We don’t rise to the level of our expectations (we especially don’t rise to low expectations), we fall to the level of our training—the time we put into our prep is everything. Expectations are nothing but distractions—and expensive distractions at that.
In this present moment, we are able to free ourselves from our expectations and follow our tasks optimally that are provided to us by our aims. Forget about your expected plans for the future, the future will unfold how it may. And many times, the future looks NOTHING like what you expect it to be anyway. Focus on your now. Focus on the task that’s right in front of you and eliminate all distractions that prevent you from doing that task optimally. We need you at your best. This is how you unleash it.
Don't Let the Motivation Stop There...!
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