Bridging the Gap between Desires and Expectations: A New Mindset for a New Year

A trending topic here on LinkedIn is about Hitting your goals for 2020. So, let me ask you this:

• When was the last time you acted on the belief you would get exactly what you wanted?
• When was the last time you acted on an expectation, even if that expectation is the last thing you wanted?

Whether it is for personal or professional reasons, many of us want to turn our lives—and our luck—around but fail to try because we do not believe we will succeed. 

We routinely set ourselves up for failure by refusing to imagine things can be better.  It is as though problems from our past always frame our future. By never letting go, we become emotional pack mules lugging our baggage through the wasteland we think is our existence.

Just imagine what we could accomplish if we could bridge the gap between our desires and our expectations.

While I will never embrace “magical thinking” nor believe a positive attitude rights all wrongs, there is one thing I have had to admit:

You only master what you practice. 

If you practice giving up, you will soon master the art of never trying.

No one can guarantee that acting on a desire will get us what we want.  On the other hand, refusing to act on that desire does guarantee our failure.

As we journey down life’s roads, we should remember that most obstacles are not the end of the road, nor every dead end the end to all paths between ourselves and our goals.  These are the tests that determine our desire to succeed or cause us to rethink the effort required.

It is our anticipation of future events that allows us to plan for those futures.  While it may seem negative, preparation for worst-case scenarios can, at times, be a positive.

But what if we are only considering the worst possible outcomes?  What futures are we denying ourselves?

For instance, if you are certain you cannot get that promotion, you are less likely to even try to get it.  

This is how your past shapes your future:  If your past inability to get that promotion is affecting your current actions, your past is holding you back.

Turning things around begins with simply believing your future can be better than your previous experiences.  If you believe that, this time, you can get that promotion, you have more to gain than refusing to try.

When you expect a positive, you feel wonderful.  Expecting a negative has the opposite effect. There aren’t many things that cause as much anxiety as assuming something bad is about to happen.

Rather than mastering the negatives, try a new way of thinking that allows you to create and act on the steps that lead you to a better outcome.  Big dreams can be broken down into smaller and more attainable goals. Asking yourself what you would rather have happen than an expected bad outcome, allowing yourself to see your future in a brighter and more attainable light.

Please ask yourself this:  What are you so certain of in your personal or professional life that you refuse to consider how things could be different?  Does that assumption make you happy, or do you feel embittered that you cannot reach the future you crave?

If you feel great, keep up the good work.  If not, then it is time to rethink what you take for granted and work toward a future that merges what you want with what you can come to expect.

This is how you create a bright and prosperous New Year.

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Rachel Kiernan is a local Sales Executive with SpotOn.  She offers merchant services without the usual credit card processing fees while combining SpotOn’s products and services with a digital marketing platform designed to put money back in your pocket. SpotOn also builds and hosts websites without any setup fees and offers a full range of point-of-sale systems and terminals.  All of this is offered without any contracts.