19th July 2012
`Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable'
Wendy Wasserstein
`Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed'
Alexander Pope
We work with others and we live in a world of mutual expectations. People expect something from us and we also expect something from others. When the expectations are fulfilled, we are happy. If not, we are disappointed. The more and more our mutual expectations are fulfilled, the better will be our interpersonal rapport.
But the question is how we manage this equation?
I follow a simple strategy. I expect little less from others and try to give more than their expectations! When I expect less from others, whatever they give satisfies me. Similarly when people get more than what they expected from me, they also feel happy!
Just imagine what will happen if you expect more and people give you less and when people expect more from you and you give less? We should control what is in our control. The one person in our control is ourselves and it is better that we understand this simple common sense principle.
In my experience of dealing with people, I felt hurt and unhappy when people fell short of my expectations. Since people are not in my control, I decided to follow the above strategy!
Follow the above principle for a week and notice what happens to the quality of your interpersonal relationship!
N C Sridharan
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