Under pressure, we would like to think that we shine, push through and pen that inspirational quote hanging above our desk. But more commonly, pressure floods our minds with expectations and drowns out our voice. We are left with anxious hearts and blank pages mocking us.
Expectations are the voices defining success. They outline what is appropriate, desired, rewarded and praised. Unchecked, expectations gather up everyone’s ideal into one insurmountable wall of water that threatens to crash down on our heads.
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink and Talking to Strangers, identifies the power of expectations when he says, “I deal with writer’s block by lowering my expectations. I think the trouble starts when you sit down to write and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent — and when you don’t, panic sets in. The solution is never to sit down and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent. I write a little bit, almost every day, and if it results in two or three or (on a good day) four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man. Never try to be the hare. All hail the tortoise.”
Expectations are the enemies of a generous mind. Expectations hold up a standard that makes your day’s simple contribution seem insufficient and half-baked. The reason we get tricked so often by this enemy is that they are disguised as our friends; challenging us to do our very best work and seek impact. But these friends are really foes. They hold out the hope of approval but will never accept your generous contribution. Expectations will always demand more of you without allowing you to release your ideas to those who need to hear them.
This year, I experienced the power of expectations in a simple way. In fact, this blog post represents a long-fought victory over one particular set of expectations. Earlier this year we realized that we were coming up on our 300th post on the Generous Mind blog. “What great news,” I said! Not only did this represent a significant amount of content but it gave us an opportunity to say something significant about the Generous Mind cause.
Ahh, but at that moment the expectations set in. What masterpiece could fill the 300th blog spot? This must be just the right message that represents the cause and showcases our writing abilities. I felt compelled to meet the moment by sharing the right idea.
As often happens, the expectations led to paralysis and indecision. We were stuck.
And so the blog has laid fallow at 299 blog posts for the past several months. Instead of seeing the foe for who he was, we catered to his whims. Considering this idea and that . . . writing this paragraph and that . . . but always casting them aside as not good enough for what became the dreaded 300th post.
Now we see the enemy clearly. We mourn the power he had over our minds and we decided to use #300 to fight back. Here’s to half-baked ideas, midnight inspiration, summer walk wisdom and rainy-day ponderings.
How many people might be blessed with your ideas if you were able to overcome the power of expectations and be generous with abandon?
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