How Lowering Expectations Limits Disappointment and Why High Expectations Ruin Happiness

We all have extremely high expectations for life, work, other people, and relationships.

Most individuals go through life assuming that everything will go their way and that everything will develop the way they have imagined it will.

They hope that magic will fix all their problems, doors of opportunity will open for them, and lady luck will shine on them. They expect extraordinary results from their efforts.

But that rarely occurs. Dejection consequently sets in.

I tell the truth. Not all of your expectations will be met, regardless of who you are or what level you have.

Why do individuals have such high standards?

Many people count on others to take care of them, act in the way they want, be there for them when they need it, assist them when they are in need, and so forth. They seek payback because they believe they have helped and served others.

Some people take their relationships for granted and count on others to support them. Because they have a certain position of authority and feel entitled to have people around them for them, yet another group of people has soared expectations of others.

No anticipations, no letdowns

Human nature makes it impossible to live without expectations, but with some work, you may lower your expectations and lessen the likelihood that you will be disappointed.

You can prevent experiencing pain, rage, and offense by not having expectations of yourself or others. You must come to terms with the fact that circumstances are not always in your favor.

You also develop an understanding of other people's perspectives and the fact that they have their own concerns before helping you because they have priorities of their own. You also begin to feel sympathy for them.

Here are six strategies for lowering your expectations and preventing disappointments.

1. Recognize that you have no control over how others behave.

You're setting yourself up for disappointment when you set greater standards for others.

You cannot foresee how another person would act since you don't know what is going through their thoughts.

It is up to the other person to decide how much they admire, respect, or want to keep in touch with you. Similarly, it is totally up to them how much they appreciate and acknowledge your assistance. You are powerless to change it.

2. Unconditionally invest in relationships

You'll feel more comfortable and at peace with yourself if you lend a helping hand to someone else out of pure benevolence and without expecting anything in return. You won't experience either disappointment or letdown.

When you help others out purely out of a sense of altruism and without expecting anything in return, you are, in a sense, helping yourself out since it makes you feel good.

3. Keep in mind that you cannot influence the result.

You have no influence over the outcome; you can only perform the work.

Concentrate on your efforts, take pleasure in the process, and have as few expectations as possible to keep yourself content and reduce disappointments. Then, anything you receive is a bonus.

When you put up minimal effort and achieve excellent results as well as recognition and gratitude for your efforts, it surprises you and significantly improves your quality of life.

4. Your assumptions are based on your expectations.

You must be aware that you are making assumptions, accepting them as true, and expecting things to go your way when you have high expectations for someone or something. You assume that other people will act in the manner that you desire, or if it is personal, you anticipate a specific caliber of performance from yourself.

Your thoughts and emotions, however, are constrained. There is no assurance that what you hope for, imagine, or expect will come true and become your reality.

You may manage your expectations by bearing this in mind and remaining realistic.

5. Increase your interpersonal communication skills

Meeting your expectations can be made easier with effective communication.

People may keep things simple and grasp each other's expectations by engaging in a realistic two-way conversation.

An effective route for orally informing the other party of your expectations is communication. It also enables you to get to know them, assess their position, and determine how much you can anticipate from them.

You can change things on your end and lessen your expectations if you ever get the impression that the other person is uninterested, hesitant, or antagonistic and won't do what you want them to. Additionally, you can find alternative methods of completing your work and switch to plan B to prevent last-minute disappointment or surprises.

6. Maintain reality

Expecting greatness from others or yourself increases hopes but steals enjoyment from you. Your odds of feeling let down increase with the size of the expectation-to-reality mismatch.

Therefore, it is advisable to stay informed about the circumstance and others' attitudes and behaviors in order to predict how things will turn out.

Consider how well you prepared and worked for a goal as well. This will enable you to prevent surprises and help you match your expectations with reality.

In Conclusion

Expecting too much and allowing yourself to be ruled by your hopes and assumptions is a surefire way to feel unhappy.

Viewing things through the prism of expectations can also affect your mental health and well-being. If you perpetually focus on what you deserve, are worthy of, or how life should treat you, you’ll always feel aggravated and frustrated.

Lowering expectations from yourself and others puts you in a peaceful and more empowered space.

So live in the moment, don’t overanalyze people too much, avoid overthinking and over-planning, and you’ll live a happy and blissful life.

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