There is an expectation attached to everything we do
Expectations – they are with us all the time. They shape our lives in ways that we rarely consider and they relentlessly impact the world around us. They are our hopes, our aspirations, inspiration and trust in everything we believe in. They are also our fears, our limitations, conflicts, failures, disappointments and prejudices.
“Our hopes, aspirations, inspiration, trust, belief”
The Power of Expectations is a look at five interconnected and powerful elements and how they play a very impactful role in your life, in relationships, families, groups, business, communities, organisations and even nations.
Harnessing this powerful force
It’s a journey on how you can harness one of the most dominant forces available to you, and how you can use it to get more from the things in your life. The journey begins when you realise that everything automatically has an expectation attached to it.
Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, an expectation is always there in your life, it exists in your interaction with others and in what you do or don’t do.
We have a constant anticipation or belief that “we can get more from the things in our lives.” This belief creates a permanent restlessness in us that is compelled by two very strong drivers – to have more of the things we want, and nothing of the things that we don’t want.
“We will never stop believing that we can get more from the things in our lives”
We want more love, respect, money, opportunities, significance, comfort, convenience and so the list can go on and on. We also want less pain, discomfort, conflict, misery, abuse, and again the list can go on. These are the things that we expect and everything we do revolves around getting more, or less of these things.
Your expectations have 4 powerful allies
But there is more to this. Your expectations are not a singular force. We are complicated beings living in a complex world. There are four other elements you need to know about that play a major part in our lives as individuals and in any scenario where we collectively co-exist or collaborate.
They do not exist alone but form part of an even more powerful alliance.
Perceptions, Emotions, Decisions & Purpose
These five elements combined are umbillically linked. Each one impacts and influences the others. It doesn’t matter which one comes first. Once the process is set in motion they all work together or against each other.
The outcome – well that defines how you see yourself and your world, and how the world sees you. Get it right and it works for you, but get it wrong and you will spend a lifetime trying to figure out why things don’t work for you.
This inter-related, inter-connected, inter-woven relationship between the five elements has to have a name. A Continuum refers to “something that is made up of many parts, is always present and keeps on going but changes slowly over time”
The Expectation Continuum
The Expectation Continuum is a fascinating link between the very powerful forces of Expectations, Emotions, Perceptions and Decisions. At the nucleus of these four is the element that defines them all, and validates them all – Purpose.
Each of these elements has massive influence in our lives. They drive what we believe in and hope for.
They generate how we feel about everything.
They influence how we see things and they impact our choices in everything we do, and define the validity, the highest reason why we do something.
Like anything that is powerful, it can be used to your advantage, and it can be abused. It is always dependent on the underlying motive behind achieving something.
The upside and downside of power
History is filled with manipulation through expectations
Examples of the power of expectations are all around us. It has been used in constructive and destructive ways with the manipulation of people’s expectations leaving a littered trail throughout history.
Because of its immense power; confidence tricksters, manipulators, managers, dictators, rogues, politicians, regimes, business, religions and governments have made use of expectations to extort unimaginable things out of people.
Loving and intimate relationships are not immune to this and fall foul of manipulated expectations by one or both partners or family members.
Expectations have motivated some of mankind’s greatest achievements
The inspiring side of this all, is that history is a showcase of the exceptional things that mankind has achieved individually and collectively because we have embraced great expectations, anticipated breakthroughs and believed in something greater than our individual selves.
“It’s what you are inspired to do – but also what you are afraid of”
The Continuum is the core source of everything you aspire to achieve or believe in. They are effectively “you”, because they will define the things you move towards in life, or move away from; what you are inspired to do or what you are afraid of.
It’s at the core of your goals, what you believe in, how you trust, how you perceive everything around you and how you make your decisions.
Limitations, prejudices, fears and failures
These forces are also at the core of your limitations, prejudices and fears.
A past event that had negative outcomes can change your perception of future events and become the reason why you do not trust a certain type of person, how you embrace your choices and decisions differently, or develop a mindest that self-sabotages any chance of future successes.
By understanding how this works you can change so many things
Through being aware of these forces you will be able to better understand how these elements are so dominant in your life, how they are the catalyst behind so much of what you achieve and what works out right for you.
But also understand how it is the cause for so many things that have failed to work for you, dampened your enthusiasm, created limitations and is at the core of your fears, failures and manipulative use by others.
And what about business
The Continuum is a powerful combination in business. After all, business is about people providing solutions to other people – albeit through products or services.
Any organisation is a collection of its people and therefore these forces, when all the individuals with all their totally different expectations, emotions, perception and purposes are brought into one space, can be one of the most volatile cocktails you can deal with.
It’s like a living being
The organisation, via its vision and objectives is like a living being too. It also has expectations, perceptions (internal and external), sets of decisions and hopefully a purpose. It is emotional too – the collective emotions of all your employees, all your suppliers and all your customers.
There are very powerful forces working for you or against you.
Its applicability cuts across almost every aspect of the world we live and work in. It addresses matters relating to relationships, group collaboration, negotiation techniques, dispute resolution, families, business management, sales and community matters.
It has the power to focus disparate viewpoints, establish collaboration, reduce conflict and bring disparate elements together to achieve common objectives.
“Explore more about the Power of Expectations”
There is so much to explore and understand how these five key elements impact you. Before the official release of the books, this blog will give you the opportunity to explore. To receive regular updates of new articles, news, interviews, audio and video content – subscribe to this blog by going to the Subscribe section.
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