offpeak

• Expectation is one of the thieves of joy, but there’s a way to make it work in your favour.

• That way is to purposely & consciously lower your expectations.

• You can do so without lowering the quality of your life by always re-choosing to find & control your own peace. This way, you become easy to please, in the sense that you’re constantly grateful & appreciative of anything that meets or marginally (or greatly) exceeds your expectations. Others will notice & feel good about it, which will naturally encourage them to do it more or possibly make it their project to do it more often. Either way, you benefit with or without it.

• “But what about expectations towards meeting my ambitious goals? Do I lower my ambition too?” If you can lower your ambition & still find your peace, then sure, why not? However, you can still pursue your ambitions and indeed 'have' expectations, but treating it as a measurement utensil the same way you’d treat a water level or a measure tape. Also, as you use expectations as a measuring tool, know that it’ll never be perfect, and that an 80% attainment is very significant and so is growing into 80% increases.

• Most importantly, ensure you find your peace independently of it.