Life seems so simple and enjoyable when we have low expectations. High expectations sometimes lead to a lack of motivation and a failure to achieve goals. Low expectations, on the other hand, make things more realistic and generate a high motivation that helps people reach their goals. Last month, I sat down with a beautiful 22-year-old girl that was very smart and had a bright future ahead of her. She had the financial, mental, and physical abilities to go to school, get a degree, get a job, and earn more money. I engaged her in a conversation, I did not take that long to find out that this girl had a big issue. She had very high expectations for almost everything in life. She wanted to be an engineer and wanted to make over $120K a year after graduating from college and she thought that all engineers made at least $10,000 a month after taxes. Also, she thought that all engineers could afford to buy a decent house in Southern California and could live a luxury life. After she faced the reality and found out that a majority of engineers did not make $10,000 a month after taxes and barely afforded to buy a condominium, she started to withdraw from her school courses and stopped her 4-year-degree program and continued her $ 12 per hour job with no motivation at all to progress.
If this girl had had a low expectation, she would have continued her engineering courses and would have gotten her Bachelor Degree. Her high expectations destroyed her motivation.
What can we learn from this story?
Well, sometimes in this life, happiness and success come when people have low expectations. What do I mean by that? Hey, I am glad you asked! Let me provide some examples;
1. When your goal is to get a college degree, don’t expect that you will easily get a job that pays a six-figure salary after you graduate. Be happy with any job in your field that will open an opportunity for you to grow and progress regardless of how much you get paid.
2. When you try to look for love, don’t expect that you will find a model because if you do, you will end up single for the rest of your life.
3. When you try to invest in stocks or mutual funds, don’t expect that you will be a millionaire soon because if you expect that, you will never invest and will never have a high net worth. Be patient and be happy with the average annual return of 8 to 9% that the S&P 500 generates. This number might look low to you but in reality, most people who have been investing in the S&P 500 index funds for the last 20 years are millionaires now and can afford to quit a job at any time because their investments can generate a passive income for them.
4. When you go on vacation, don’t expect that the place will be like a heaven on earth, because if you expect that, you will never enjoy your vacation. Be happy with what you see and realize that there are a lot of other people cannot afford to go on vacation.
5. When you get a job, don’t expect that the environment and the culture will have everything you like because if you expect that, you will get disappointed and you will quit your job. Train yourself to be flexible to adapt to a different working environment and culture and develop some skills to deal with a difficult boss and co-workers.
6. When you start working out at the gym, don’t expect that you will lose weight or build big muscles within a short period of time because if you expect that, you will get disappointed if you don’t see results that fast and you will quit the gym. Be patient and realize that losing weight or building muscles takes time and a big commitment.
7. When you have a spouse, don’t expect that your spouse will have everything you like. If you expect that, then you will get disappointed and your relationship will suffer and you will end up filling for a divorce. Accept the fact that nobody in this world is perfect. Everybody has good things and bad things.
How about you? Do you like to have high expectations too?