Hellooooooo!
What are your expectations of situations and people?
When faced with new or difficult circumstances, how
are your thoughts? Positive? Negative? Indifferent? I
go into most situations with the predisposition that
everything is going to work out the way that I want. I
think it has something to do with me being the
youngest child (and very spoiled). Regardless of the
origin, I do believe that it is the expectation of things
working the way I want that is the secret to them
actually turning out that way. In that, all of my energy
goes in that direction and (even though there may be
hurtles) “it” gets done (whatever “it” is). The same can
be true for having negative expectations and talking
yourself into a spiral of despair before events unfold.
There was this guy who was driving to a dinner party
out in the country and he got a flat tire. Knowing he
was in a time crunch to get to his destination on time,
he jumped out of his car, sped to his trunk and flipped
open the hatch…only to realize that he didn’t have a
jack. Panicked, his mind raced as what to do. His cell
phone was out of range and he truly was in the middle
of nowhere. Standing, by himself and beside himelf
with grief, he
saw a light flickering in the distance. “It could be a
farmhouse,” he thought to himself. It was getting
dark,
the temperature was dropping and it was a seemingly
long trek but, with no other choice, he decided to start
walking towards the farmhouse to see if the residents
had a jack he could
borrow. As he walked, he started working out
possible scenarios in his head of what would happen
when he arrived at the farmhouse. Each scenario
ended with him not getting a jack and being stranded
(possibly for the rest of his life) out in the middle of
nowhere – cold, hungry, and friendless. Although his
building fury did hurry is pace, it did nothing for his
disposition. The further he walked, the angrier he got.
Over and over in his head he repeated, “I know that
this guy is not going to let me borrow a jack!” By the
time he reached the farmhouse he was in a rage. He
marched up to the door and pounded on it repeatedly.
He KNEW that this was a pointless endeavor and that
this “guy” was not going to let him borrow a jack and
that he was going to be out here forever. He pounded
again. Finally, the door started to creek open and
there stood a kindly looking old farmer. The farmer
looked at the man and said, “May I help you?” The
man reared back, hit the farmer in the face and said, “I
didn’t want to borrow your damn jack anyway.”
The moral of the story? Don't borrow jacks. We can
discount things before we even give them a chance to
develop. We need to set our expectations towards
greatness if that's what we want (or our team) to
achieve. When you set them high, the hurtles will be
just as high. To help you stay positive and laser
focused on those goals, try these strategies:
Visualize
Know exactly where it is you are going or what you are
trying to achieve. Sit back and visualize what it looks
like, what it tastes like, what it feels like and who is
there celebrating with you when you accomplish the
goal. Once you do that, write it down and tell people
about it. Verbalizing your goals helps internalize
them, makes you accountable to those you told them
about, and you will be much more likely to keep going
when the going gets tough. If it's a team goal, make
sure EVERYONE (from the person in the mailroom to
the CEO) knows where the team is going. This gives
common purpose and critical mass - both of which
move mountains!
Persist
There is an Irish proverb that reads, "Persistence
breaks down resistance." I am pretty sure my
youngest daughter is Irish because she lives by this.
There will always be hurtles to jump, mountains to
climb, and speeches to give. Most will tell you how
things can't be done, not how they CAN be done. I
always repeat to myself, "WWWWD?" (What would
Willy Wonka do?). He would keep going and say, "We
are the music makers and we are the dreamers of
dreams!" If you have clarity in your expectations and
know exactly where you going, keep up the fight, and
persist. Don't listen to "nay-sayers" who try to trample
on your dream. It will go the way of your will if your will
is strong. Stay strong!
Laugh
When the going gets tough, the tough get laughing.
Stress is
a fact of life. Having the intestinal fortitude to set your
expectations high and dream can add enormously to
your stress load. When you are persisting and the
stress is building, take a break and laugh. See a
funny movie, talk to friends that make you laugh, or
just do some "ho ho ha ha ha's" in the privacy of your
car and you will find that your stress will diminish
expeditiously! Laughing sets off a chain reaction of
physical and emotional responses in your body that
will help you maintain perspective, stay focused, and
be happier! You can't see the horizon if your head in
pointed downward. Keep your head up with laughter!
In the end, we get what we expect to get. Each of us is
only here for a short period of time and we should
expect greatness because each of us IS great. Each
of us has a reason, a purpose, and we should never
discount our own capabilities or our blessings by
"borrowing jacks." Keep laser focused, positive,
always have great expectations and
watch fantastic
things unfold in your life.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"Laughter is the igniter of great expectations!"
- Norman Cousins
Keep laughing, leading, rockin', and connecting!
- Chip
