“There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations” ― Jodi Picoult
Setting your expectations high is an important part of moving your travel practice forward. Let me explain.
Unrealized expectations are not strangers to most of us. It’s pretty common to decide in the course of any given day our clients, our family, our employees, or our friends are not meeting our expectations. Some will tell you even having expectations is futile and the sure path to unhappiness. Have you had someone tell you “Expect the worst and you’ll never be disappointed?” People who repeat this aphorism often nod knowingly like they have just let you in on one of life’s real secrets.
Yikes.
I don’t subscribe to this rather dim view of life. Frequently, perhaps even most often, unrealized expectations are not the fault of the “others” in our life, but our own responsibility. We don’t convey what we expect, but instead leave outcomes to chance. We don’t make ourselves understood and then blame others for not understanding us.
Simply put, how can others meet our expectations if we don’t clearly establish what we expect?
We are, at times, all guilty of setting ourselves up for this type of disappointment. But it really is possible to clearly set out your expectations with every assignment and every delegation. Such clarifications don’t have to be mandates. You can dialogue with those around you about what is reasonable to expect as a conclusion to your proposals and requests.
What if you established expectations at the outset of each of your client encounters? What if you asked your client of their expectations of you and you told them what you expected of them?
It’s just a thought.
It is our responsibility to make ourselves heard and understood. There is no sense in blaming others because it will matter not at all to them, only to us.
The same goes with respect to our relationship with ourselves. If we are not clear about our desires, about what we really want of ourselves and our professional life, don’t we risk not being happy with our achievements?
You can lower your expectations or you can alter your reality. What sounds better to you?
