Raj Daniels

When you win, is there someone you can help win?

In this context, winning doesn’t necessarily mean winning a competitive event; it means succeeding in any area of life.

So, when you succeed in an area of your life, what can you do to help one other person succeed in their life?

Imagine for a moment a world in which everyone adopted a win and help win attitude. A world in which every individual is committed to sharing knowledge, skills, and resources with one other person.

While we don’t live in a utopic world, at least not for now, nothing is stopping you from adopting a win and help win way of life.

Now you might be thinking that life is competitive, and you need to beat others to win, and I understand your feelings, but in the long run, collaboration beats competition. Even professional athletes who get paid to win have been known to train with competitors to help and learn from each other.

Albert Einstein was once asked in a letter by a lady, “why are we alive?” To which he responded, “The question “Why” in the human sphere is easy to answer: to create satisfaction for ourselves and for other people.” Which I interpret to be, to win, and help win.

So, as you go through your day today, adopt a win and help win attitude. Ask yourself what knowledge, skills, and resources you can share with one other person. And let’s all win together.

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What’s your crazy idea?

I know you have one, if not many.

Go ahead, you can tell me. No one’s listening.

We all have crazy ideas. It’s what humans do.

Look around you. Your life is filled with other people’s crazy ideas. In fact, you’re reading this on a crazy idea.

If you’re reading this text on a screen, then you might even be aware that this text doesn’t exist as text but a series of ones and zeros.

Your crazy ideas stem from your experiences and the unique way in which you view the world. While others might have similar ideas, none will have the same idea as you.

If you look back in history, you’ll find that people were thinking about and attempting to build pyramids to flying machines that suited their unique cultures. The results might seem similar, but the way they got there was very different.

Even today, you’ll find variations of crazy ideas. From automobiles, clothing, computers, medicine, and everything in between, you can see people expressing their crazy ideas.

Crazy ideas do not always have to be tied to financial gains. Many of the crazy ideas that have made huge financial gains didn’t start that way. They began as an individual’s desire to see their crazy idea come to life.

So instead of dismissing your crazy ideas, write them down, talk about them, and don’t worry if people reject them as crazy. Always remember that it’s because of crazy ideas that humans have survived and thrived so far. And if we want to continue to do so, then we’ll need many more crazy ideas.

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What is your view of work?

Do you think of work as a necessary evil or something you get to, or want to do?

Your work can be one of the most personally satisfying and fulfilling areas of your life, especially if you can find that is meaningful for you.

Now there’s a chance that not every job you have on your career trajectory will seem meaningful at the time, but those times when you’re feeling dissatisfied are opportunities for you to think about the kind of work you’d like to do.

Finding meaningful work is one of the best things you can do for your life. But doing so is not always easy. You might choose a job or career early in life-based on your current personality and interests to find that the work is not what you thought it would be. Many careers seem interesting or glamourous from the outside looking in, but once you’re in them, they can very quickly lose their luster and become mundane.

If you find yourself in a job or career you’re no longer enjoying, then instead of being annoyed or frustrated, use the opportunity to learn.

Recent statistics show that people change jobs an average of twelve times during their working life, and most adults work for about thirty to forty years. As you can tell, your career journey will ebb and flow.

So, what will be your view of work on your career journey?

The sooner you find work that aligns with your interests and values, the more meaningful your career will be. So, rather than chase every job opportunity that’s presented to you, take time to evaluate, especially if you have the luxury of time to do so. Choosing your work carefully might be the difference between you having a career that’s meaningless or meaningful to you.

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How good are your interpretation skills?

While you might not consider yourself to be an interpreter, you are.

As you read this, your brain is scrambling to make meaning, to interpret the words you’re reading.

Fortunately for you and me, the words I’ve written so far are fairly straightforward and leave very little room for misinterpretation.

But that’s not always the case.

What do you think of when you read the following words?

Tolerate.

Manipulate.

Love.

Hate.

These are just a few words that by themselves carry no weight, but when put into context, they can elicit strong emotions.

But whose context?

For example, let’s take the word manipulate.

What did you think of when you read it?

I’m almost certain it wasn’t the following definition.

To treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner.

This is the first definition of the word manipulate in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

One of the major causes of miscommunication is misinterpretation. A person hears someone say something, and they contextualize it based on their personal experience and background. And instead of seeking clarification, they respond based on what they think the person is saying.

Now there’s really no way to avoid the initial misinterpretation because your brain is lazy, just like everyone else’s, so to conserve energy, it finds the definition that it most commonly uses. But, if you want to eliminate or reduce misinterpretation, then it’s your job to override your brain and seek clarification.

So, the next time you find yourself in a situation where you hear someone say, ‘that’s not what I meant.’ Pause for a moment and ask them to restate or clarify what they said. Not only might this lead to less conflict in your life, but the next time you’re misinterpreted, they might do the same for you too.

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How do you deal with an irreversible decision?

Fait accompli, what’s done is done.

You can’t change it.

Will there be repercussions?

Absolutely.

For how long?

It depends on the decision you made.

A trivial decision will result in a small, sometimes negligible, repercussion. And then there are those big decisions that can be life-altering.

But again, neither can be undone.

You can, however, learn from decisions you’ve made and wish you could change.

A vital life lesson is not to repeat mistakes or said another way, the poor decisions you’ve made.

So how do you avoid making poor decisions?

Great question.

There’s no perfect answer, but for a start, you can learn from your past, and second, when it comes to big decisions, gather as much information as you can. Both require time. The first requires time to introspect and periodically evaluate your life, and the second requires time to think about how your decision will affect your future. And while you can’t exactly predict your future. After you gather information, you can think probabilistically about how your decisions will play out over your lifetime.

Yes, there will be exceptions to these answers. Treat the exceptions as exceptions and not the rule.

So, if you’ve made bad or poor decisions in the past, then leave them there and look to the future. Life is nothing but decisions made from an endless buffet of choices. And it’s your job to make the best decisions you can, to enable you to live the life you want.

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What is your idea of an ideal life?

Where does your idea of an ideal life come from?

In these modern times, most ideal life scenarios are sold to you via popular media and social media. Most people don’t realize that the job of media and social media is to keep reminding you of all the things you don’t have in your life.

Imagine for a moment that you were born to a family living in a time where there was no access to any media. No knowledge of anything except what you and your immediate family and neighbors experienced.

What then would be your idea of an ideal life?

I’m going to guess that it would be very straightforward. Food, good health, shelter, relationships, and the safety of family and friends would probably be the only priorities you’d focus on. Your ideal life would look so different, perhaps even simple.

Now I know that this is an unrealistic way to view an ideal life in these modern times and that we are spoiled for choice and lured by all the choices that are available to us, but every once in a while, it’s good to remind ourselves that we are the ones that complicate life.

If you’re fortunate enough to have access to food, good health, shelter, relationships, and the safety of family and friends, then maybe you are leading an ideal life, and the rest is just noise?

Let me be clear. I’m not suggesting that you don’t strive to improve your life in any way you see fit. I’m just recommending you don’t go through life idealizing what you don’t have and forget or neglect everything you already possess.

So, the next time you’re thinking about what your ideal life might look like, take stock of all that you already have. Consider for a moment where your ideas of an ideal life stem from. And who knows, you might realize that you already have all that really matters.

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How much time do you spend in the service of others?

Research shows that helping or serving others not only benefits the recipients of the service, but the giver also benefits.

Studies also show that one to alleviate anxiety is to spend time serving others. In many cases, anxiety is caused by an over-focus on the self and worrying about your future. Helping others shifts your focus, at least temporarily, away from your future and to the wellbeing of others.

Committing to serving others doesn’t require you to sacrifice your own health and welfare. You can indeed do good for others and still take care of yourself. In fact, if you don’t take care of yourself, then you will have a hard time finding the energy or resources to help anyone because you’ll be the one in need.

Imagine for a moment what the world would look like if we all committed to the service of each other. The sheer power and energy of billions of people actively looking out for one another would be nothing short of miraculous.

So, make a conscious commitment or practice of serving others regularly. Start where you are today. You don’t have to wait; you can begin where you are by donating resources or time, whatever suits you best. Once you begin to incorporate serving others as part of your life that you’ll find that there will be two beneficiaries, the person you served and you.

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What are your limitations?

While you might have physical limitations that prevent you from excelling in certain activities, you are mostly limited by what you know and by what you do about it.

I know this might sound ridiculously simple, and I’m not trying to trivialize any limitations you believe you have; I’m just sharing what I learned.

Let me ask you this, when did you begin to believe in your limitations?

You see, so many limitations are learned, or should I say adopted before they are even attempted. You’ll often hear them in the phrase, oh, I could never do that, or something similar. And the more honest truth of the matter is a person has a feeling or belief that they can’t do or attempt a particular activity or task.

The interesting thing about limitations is that they’re mostly viewed in a moment and not overtime. Earlier I wrote that you’re limited by what you know and what you do about it. The second half of the preceding sentence is where the magic begins. Yes, you might be correct about your limitations at any given moment, but now what are you going to do about it?

When you bump up against a limitation that you believe you have, you also have choices. You can accept your limitation and live with it, or you can find ways to overcome and breakthrough your limitation. And while it’s easy for me to write the words, breakthrough and overcome, I know and understand that it’s easier said than done.

But what have you got to lose?

It might take time and effort to shed any limitations you think you have, but that’s what growth is about. There’s only one time in life that we all have in common when growth is no longer possible, and it’s at the end.

So, the next time you find yourself being held back by your limitations, remember you do have a choice. You can choose to hold on to them and use them as a reason or excuse not to move forward or pursue what you want, or you can decide to act and do something about them. Hopefully, you’ll choose the latter and become the person that’s waiting for you on the other side of your limitations.

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How does entrainment effect your life?

In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t misspell entertainment.

One definition of the word entrainment is the process whereby two interacting oscillating systems assume the same period. An example of this is if you mount two clock pendulums side by side on the wall, they will gradually begin to swing together. They synchronize each other by picking up tiny vibrations they each transmit through the wall.

They synchronized by picking up tiny vibrations they each transmit through the wall. I find that fascinating.

Author Ursula Le Guin described this beautifully when she wrote, “any two things that oscillate at about the same interval, if they’re physically near each other, will gradually tend to lock in and pulse at exactly the same interval. Things are lazy. It takes less energy to pulse cooperatively than to pulse in opposition. Physicists call this beautiful, economical laziness mutual phase locking, or entrainment.”

Why am I sharing this with you?

If you’ve heard the phrases, birds of a feather flock together, or, you are the sum of the five closest people to you, then this is entrainment at work in your life. But I’d like to expand on the previous phrases and tell you that you’re also the sum of the ideas you spend time with.

As Le Guin said, it takes less energy to pulse cooperatively than to pulse in the opposition. You don’t have the energy to continuously fight against or disagree with the people or ideas you spend time with, so eventually, you have few choices. Succumb, cooperate, fall in step, or change the people and ideas you surround yourself with.

It’s not easy leaving the people or ideas you’re comfortable with, but if you ever really want to change your life, it will require you to do so. And if you can’t do so physically, then at least mentally via whatever resources or medium is available to you.

So, if you find yourself seeking change in your life, you need to spend as much time as you can immersing yourself in the people and ideas that have already accomplished what you’re seeking to do. At first, this will feel daunting, but with enough time, you’ll find yourself in entrainment or in sync with your new environment.

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What do you think when you hear the words, overnight success?

The idea of an overnight success is ridiculous because it doesn’t exist. This might sound like a strong statement, but it’s true.

When you hear or read about a person that seems to be an overnight success, it’s because you’re not aware of the years that person toiled in anonymity before they became an overnight success. And the reason is, toiling in anonymity isn’t attractive or sexy and doesn’t garner the same attention as the phenomena of an overnight success.

Look at these two statements.

Person works hard for years and then becomes successful in their chosen endeavor or craft.

Person becomes a success overnight.

Which one makes you ask how?

If you’re like most people, then it’s the second statement that will intrigue you, and understandably so. I mean, who would want to work for years to become successful when it can be achieved overnight?

If you want to be successful in any area of your life, you must invest time. How much time is going to depend on the endeavor you’re pursuing. And in some cases, you won’t know for a long time if you’ve been successful.

You see, success can mean different things to different people. For some, it might be something as simple and tangible as accruing dollars or winning games. And for others, it might be as nebulous as great relationships or being a great parent. Both are very hard to measure. The one thing all successful ventures have in common is that they don’t happen overnight.

So, the next time your attention is captured, or you’re intrigued by someone you think has achieved overnight success, remind yourself that what you’re seeing is a snapshot in time, a finished product. You and most other people will have no idea how much time and effort they invested in becoming an overnight success. And if you desire to become an overnight success, you too will have to invest an unknown amount of time in becoming one.

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How are you enjoying your wonder years?

What are wonder years?

Wonder years are years of your life filled with curiosity and wonder that leave you in awe and feeling grateful that you have the opportunity to experience life.

I’ll be the first to agree with you that due to the ups and downs of life, it can be difficult to maintain a sense of curiosity or wonder on a daily basis. However, when you do take the time to lift your head from your daily minutiae, take a moment to reawaken your childhood curiosity.

Taking time to view the world through the lens of curiosity and wonder will open doors for your imagination to explore possibilities beyond your current realm of thinking. And this can be helpful if you’re stuck in a problem you’re facing right now because, as you might know, and it is rumored that Einstein said, “problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that created them.”

Curiosity and wonder are two free and readily available tools to you whenever you call on them. Don’t let age, lack of resources, or circumstances prevent you from tapping into them whenever you need or want to.

So, from now on, hopefully, you’ll make the time to use curiosity and wonder as your magical muses to make every year you’re alive a wonder year and leave you in awe of your life.

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Are you extrinsically or intrinsically motivated?

Take a moment, or a day or two to think about the question.

I know, who has a day or two to ponder a question. But it’s a very important question and deserves a fair amount of thinking time.

If you’re not quite sure about the definitions, then let me help you. Extrinsic motivation is when you receive external rewards that can be psychological or tangible, such as fame, money, or trophies. In contrast, the intrinsic reward is doing something for self-satisfaction or self-fulfillment.

While both motivators are valid, if you’re only or mostly extrinsically motivated, then you’re constantly at the mercy of the whims and wishes of other people. You’re motivated to act in ways that might not be self-fulfilling because what you’re seeking requires you to seek external approval.

On the other hand, if you’re intrinsically motivated, then you’ll take actions that align with your internal compass, actions that satisfy your own self-fulfillment. You’ll behave in a manner that’s closer to who you really are.

Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation have pros and cons, and with attention and practice, you can learn to use them as tools throughout your life.

There will be situations and times in your life when you might have to succumb to the constructs of society and play the game of extrinsic motivation, and that’s okay. Just realize you’re doing so and work to use the opportunity to your advantage. However, for the long game, learn to rely on your intrinsic motivation because it will allow you to express your true personality.

So, now might be a good time to review the question I asked at the beginning. Use the question as a tool by asking yourself regularly if you’re extrinsically or intrinsically motivated. And then use your answers to shed light on your actions and help guide you through your life.

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Do you view the world you exist in as mostly good or bad?

Why am I asking?

Because how you view the world will determine your actions.

If you view the world as a negative place, one where people are out to get each other and take advantage of each other, you will behave accordingly. You will limit your interactions with others because you’ll be skeptical of their motives. And more than likely, you will live from a position of scarcity, spending your time and energy holding on to and protecting what you have because of your lack of trust in others.

On the other hand, if you view the world as being mostly a good safe place, you’ll be more willing to trust other people. This, of course, leads to opportunities to collaborate and help one another accomplish dreams and goals together. You’ll live from a place of abundance, not concerned that people will take advantage of you or take what you have.

Now I agree that there is and should be a healthy place for pessimism when required. You should be careful and conduct some due diligence before committing to relationships, whether they be personal or professional. But, except for the rare exception, giving people the benefit of the doubt and thinking of them as good increases your positive view of the world.

While there’s no doubt that there are people in the world that do bad things, most people are trying to their lives like everyone else. They are working to do well for themselves and their families. So, if you begin to view them and the world as being a good place, then they might view you as being good too. And who knows what you, we, can all accomplish with a positive world view.

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When you think of a leader, who comes to mind?

Why that person?

What about you?

Do you think of yourself as a leader?

If you said yes, then good for you. You’re ahead of the game.

The majority of people don’t realize that they are leaders and lead the most important person in their life, themself. However, it’s not their fault in most cases that they don’t realize that they’re a leader because they’ve never been taught or told that they are leaders.

Society and the education system begin to teach individuals at a very young age to be subservient, first to parents, then teachers, and ultimately employers. So, people spend their entire lives in the habit of thinking that an appeal to authority must solve every problem. And slowly, over time, they abdicate their agency over themselves into the hands of others, the ones they consider to be leaders.

It’s no wonder that so many young adults struggle to find their footing when they head out into the ‘real world’ for the first time. They’ve been conditioned to look to others for leadership.

So why am I telling you this?

Because the sooner you realize that you’re the most important leader you’ll ever interact with, the better off you’ll be. Notice I didn’t say the better your life will be. I can’t predict that, and neither can anyone else.

Owning the title of leader for your own life puts a huge amount of responsibility on your shoulders, but it also provides you with a high level of intestinal fortitude, also known as guts or grit. When you begin to believe that you’re the one responsible for your life, you stop looking to others to lead you and begin to take back ownership of your own life.

Before I go on, let me be clear. You don’t have to think of yourself as a leader and can make it through life just fine by following others. But if you decide to do so, then keep in mind that you’ll always be blaming and praising others for the ups and downs you encounter during your lifetime.

So, the next time you’re thinking about or looking for a leader to follow, stop for a moment and look inside yourself. While there are plenty of people in the world to admire, imitate, and learn from, maybe, just maybe, the leader you should be following is you?

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What are you feeding your mind?

Are you making intentional choices about the information you consume, or are you picking up whatever comes along?

There’s much discussion in the public domain about the food you should consume and at what intervals so that you can maintain a healthy, sound body.

However, there’s little discussion about how much and what kind of information you should consume to maintain a healthy mind. And I would argue that a healthy mind is as, if not more important than a healthy body.

I know and understand that the mind doesn’t function the same as the body, but there are similarities. Both require sustenance and time for rest and recovery. Both also require activity or exercise to maintain a fitness level that allows you to do the things you want to do.

You know that a diet of junk food will not result in a healthy body; after all, you are what you eat. But what’s the problem with junk food for the mind?

Well, I’m intentionally going to be unclear and say it depends. I know I’m taking the easy way out, but I believe it depends on how you want to live your life and what you want to accomplish. We both know that millions of people are happy as stereo typical ‘couch potatoes’ surviving on a diet of junk food and enjoying their life.

And if that’s how you want to live your life, then you have all the right to do so.

But if that’s not the life you want to live, then you must make some sound choices about your mental diet. You must decide to intentionally consume information that brings you closer to the kind of person you want to be. Of course, just like in your food choices, there’s always room for the occasional indulgence, or perhaps now more popularly known as a cheat meal or day.

By the way. It’s not only the information you consume that’s part of your mental diet. It’s also the thoughts you think and how you speak to yourself that contribute to your mental diet. I understand that it’s close to impossible, yes I left wiggle room there, to control all your thoughts, but with practice, you can catch your mind when it begins to wander and bring it back to focus on the thoughts that empower you.  

So, as you go about your day today, work on your mental diet by paying attention to the information you’re consuming and the thoughts that arise when you do so. Periodically take a break from consuming and allow your mind to digest, as you would do between meals. Commit to making your mental fitness as important or even more so than your physical fitness. After all, what’s the point of having a healthy body without a healthy mind.

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Are you playing a long or short game?

What’s the difference?

Immediate, quick short-term gains and results versus results over time.

Which one is better, or more useful?

It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.

You might enjoy the quick wins or instant gratification that you receive from short-term actions, but do they fit into the long-term vision of your life?

The problem with only playing the short game is that it’s easy to get addicted to doing so. You neglect the future and only seek to do what makes you happy right now. And soon enough, the future is upon you, and you begin to realize that you haven’t prepared adequately because you squandered so much time on the short game.

The long game requires tradeoffs and sacrifices. It involves making decisions that delay gratification and your willingness to work towards an intangible future that exists only in your mind.

I’ll be the first to agree that you can’t and shouldn’t always play the long game. There is absolutely a time and place for you to participate in and even enjoy short-term thinking and results, but you must learn to balance between and long and short games.

Time has the incredible ability to compound your actions, so what might seem to you as ‘one-off’ short-term choices soon begin to increase in frequency, and if the choices are detrimental to you, it might take you twice as long to course correct.

So, the next time you’re thinking about short-term results, consider how they might affect you in the long-term. And yes, I know that the younger you are, the more difficult it is to do so because you feel invincible and the future is so far away.  But try to get in the habit of viewing life through the lens of the long game as soon as you can. One day in the future, you’ll look back and will be grateful to the person you are today for doing so.

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What if, do unto others as you would have done unto you, is the equation of life?

Now wouldn’t that be interesting?

Of course, there would be caveats and exceptions, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

To provide additional leeway, you wouldn’t be expected to live up to the equation until you were of a sound adult mind. And yes, I can hear the arguments being made that the age of sound mind is debatable.

Should the age be sixteen, eighteen, twenty-five? I don’t know; maybe it should be thirty.

If do unto others etc., is the equation of life, how would you act and behave towards others?

Would you feel comfortable being the person you currently are, now knowing that there might be some sort of karmic boomerang delivering back to you every action you send out?

Or would you be more mindful of your actions?

Oh, by the way. Thoughts, especially intentional ones, count as actions. Yup. Sorry to spring that surprise on you, but it’s true.

If you find yourself contemplating the question, then good for you. The good news is that if you’ve ever done something intentionally that you knew would hurt or harm someone, then welcome the human being club. You are not alone. It’s also not too late. Or said differently, better late than never.

So, while do unto others might not be the equation of life, imagine a world where everyone behaved as if it were true. And who knows, it might be true. In which case, now might be a good time to start behaving according, because if you don’t, then watch out for that karmic boomerang.

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Over the past ten years, what is something you’ve changed your mind about?

If you can’t think about something you’ve changed your mind about, then, essentially, you’re the same, not physically, but mentally, the person you were ten years ago. And there’s nothing wrong with not changing your mind, especially, or as long as the person you were ten years ago is the person you still want to be.

Now, you might argue that you’re not the same person and that you’ve matured mentally because you’ve been exposed to new information. Still, to accept new information, you must be willing to replace or build upon the information you have. Or, said another way, be willing to change your mind.

The problem with not being flexible and changing your mind is that it leads to stagnation and frustration. Essentially you remain stagnant and then become frustrated because you see the world changing around you, but you refuse to keep up, and you wish that things remained as they were. You see, the world around is in constant transition, and to not get left behind, you must be willing to change your mind.

I’ll absolutely concede that there are a handful of timeless principles, such as kindness to your fellow human being and laws of nature that are evergreen, but besides the limited few, everything else is in motion.

So, as you peruse your catalog of thoughts, begin to identify the ones you’ve held on to for a long time. If you find ones that aren’t of the timeless, or evergreen nature, then evaluate them. If you don’t do so every so often, then you’ll begin to become ossified as the world around you continues in transition, and you remain stuck in your old ways of thinking.

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How good are you at blocking out the noise?

When will you decide to focus most of your energy on what’s important to you?

Blocking out noise is about eliminating or reducing all that isn’t important to you so that you can focus on the things that are. The sooner in life you’re able to learn this skill, the more fulfilled your life will be.

Now, if you’re like most people, then there will be a period in your life where you’ll feel as though you don’t have control of your time and energy, and you might have to go along to get along. But that doesn’t mean you can’t begin the practice of blocking out noise.

What exactly is noise?

Distractions.

Distractions that keep you from your goals and becoming the person you want to be. And distractions come in all forms. I can’t tell you which ones to eliminate, but I can tell you that the quicker you begin to identify which distractions prevent you from living the life you want, the more fulfilled you’ll feel.

Of course, identifying distractions or noise in your life requires some introspection, and while I’m not suggesting you spend all your time naval gazing, I do recommend at least an hour a week to give your life some direction.

Once you begin the practice of blocking the noise in your life, the signal of what you want will become more evident, and your life will become simpler, not to be confused with easier. Simpler in the sense that you’ll become more aware of where to focus your energy. And as you mature through life, you’ll realize that life is all about energy management.

So, the next you find yourself distracted or overwhelmed, perform a quick evaluation of your life, and identify the tasks, or even in some cases, the people that are preventing you from focusing your energy on what you want to accomplish. By the way, let me be clear, I’m not judging what’s important to you. I just want you to experience more of whatever it is, and you can do so by blocking out the noise.

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What do you think of when you hear the words low expectations?

If you’re like most people, then when you hear the words low expectations, they probably carry a negative connotation.

But what if I told you that low expectations can be a good thing?

Low expectations can be a powerful tool to get you started on a challenging task or even a project you’ve been procrastinating on. Setting low expectations for yourself can be the push you need to get moving.

Now, if you’re wondering how having low expectations for yourself can be helpful, let me explain.

Setting low expectations for yourself doesn’t mean you don’t strive for excellence, greatness, or any other high level of achievement. In this context, low expectations mean setting a small, tiny, surmountable goal or step for yourself—a step you can take and achieve with minimal effort.

The secret behind setting low expectations is that in doing so, you’re not intimidated into inaction. It allows you to just for a moment stop comparing where or who you are to the person you want to be. And once you start meeting the goals of your low expectations, then the actions you take begin to compound over time.  

To be clear, low expectations do not mean lower your standards. Keep your standards as high as you want to but use low expectations to reach them.

So, the next time you find yourself stuck or daunted by a big challenge or goal, start by setting low expectations for yourself. Use them as stepping stones to help you get started on your way, and as your confidence grows, then slowly, over time, begin to raise them. Let low expectations be your gateway to high achievement.

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