When was the last time your expectations fell short?
Whether it was a movie you were excited to see (that fell flat), an awesome-looking gadget bought for $3 on Amazon (that fell apart when it arrived), a restaurant you heard was amazing but … turns out it was gross…
What about a time when your expectations were exceeded? You had the bar set low for a hotel, vacation, marketing campaign, meal or relationship… and it turned out to be better than you imagined. And you found a $20 bill on the ground to boot!
The downside to having firm expectations is a lot of peaks and valleys in your emotional state. You’re always looking to guess what’s next and how you want to feel about it, which leads you to assigning an unhealthy load of meaning, want, and desire to that thing…
It’s unhealthy…
I heard Elon Musk on Joe Rogan’s podcast recently. He said, “Happiness is reality minus expectations.”
Think about it – if you have no expectations but can just experience things as they ARE… it leads to more happiness.
It leads to more presence and living in the moment. The calm feeling of being present, with no expectation, has led to more joy and serenity in my life.
I’ve spent the last week at the best event I’ve ever attended – Mastermind Talks. It’s the most I’ve ever invested into a live event and it has over delivered.
I asked an alum (this is my first year) how to prepare, and he said to “go into the event with no expectations.”
Now, on the tail end (writing this from my hotel room before a quick workout and then heading to the airport), I’ve had such a wonderful experience. I’ve been “in the moment” in every session and conversation.
It takes the pressure off of wanting to force a conversation (or a sale), or to implement some new tactic or hack in my business…
So my encouragement to you today is two-fold.
One – go to more events like this one; regardless of your industry. Experiences make me think bigger and move faster.
Two – strip away the expectations you have for new things and experience the serenity and calm of being more present and experiencing things as they are.
-Cody
P.S. Want to go behind the scenes of my experience at Mastermind Talks? I recorded a 2-part series this week on the Cody Builds a Business podcast. Listen here (Part 1 & Part 2).