Rules of the Game

To succeed at anything requires the confidence that comes from knowing your stuff. If it’s a game, the “stuff” you had better know is the playing field, the rules, the game plans (of yourself, your team mates and your opponents), the umpires, the crowds, conditions, and potential game changers.

So with this in mind I will be showing you how to better understand the game, change your game plan to align with the fundamentals required to succeed at what you pursue, and how to identify and avoid the pitfalls that will shatter your expectations.

Now don’t forget that your expectations are connected to your emotions, how you perceive things and the decisions you make.

Rule # 3 – Always establish expectations upfront

So let’s start by using this rule straight out the box.

Let me lay out the game plan of how to extract the best benefit to you from Expectations Management. The first thing to anticipate is that I’m going to give you all the good stuff about your expectations and how it positively inspires and drives your life forward.

But I’m also going to tell you about the other side of the playing field where your expectations are not so good for your well-being so that you can know these things and steer clear of any bone crunching mishaps.

After all of this, we will take a look at what’s out there around you, and possibly in your life that holds you back or sets you up for pain when it comes to the things that you hope for or expect. You need to know this so that you can avoid it when you see it, or you already have it and need to know about it so that you can deal with it.

After all of that – telling you WHAT it’s all about and what you should embrace or avoid – I will then give you guidelines on HOW to deal with this stuff so that it can make a positive and meaningful impact in your life.

Back to what you can use now.

There is expectation attached to everything we do

Therefore it is important to know this;

“Recognize it”

“Challenge it”

Before you venture into anything ensure that you know what you expect. Recognize that it exists and can either benefit you or hurt you. It’s an AWARENESS of your expectations and the drivers behind them. Now Challenge it! Many expectations go unrealised, fail or are used to manipulate because we do not challenge its validity.

One of the biggest culprits for expectation failure is that people do not establish expectations upfront. This is a two-way street and not limited to one person. This is where assumptions are born, live and new assumptions are bred. It’s the realm of blind hope that things will pan out for you.

Establishing expectations upfront means you explore what each party is expecting from the endeavour. When it comes to intimate or family relationships, or to business negotiations, or any other scenario where expectations are at play – the scenario will be very different. The Rule however remains the same.

To get a better understanding of how the rules are used to play the game and how to use these to your benefit, you will need to read the soon to be released book on The Power of Expectations, or to receive notification when other Rules and other related articles are published, register to receive updates, or follow Steve Derek on Twitter to receive notifications of new releases and articles on this topic.