Thank you to Garry Kousoulou for having given me the opportunity to contribute to his recent book “Being Happy at Work – The Optical Edition – The Book Your Boss Doesn’t Want You To Read”.
Below is an extract of chapter I authored exploring expectations of oneself and others. Please contact me if you would like to read the book……
“In the pursuit of happiness, whether at work or in life, it is important to be aware of the impact that ‘expectations’ can have on our happiness. In the context of this chapter, I invite you to relate to expectations as the ‘standards’ and ‘ideals’ you set for yourself. In other words, how you would wish for life to be. Having ideals and standards is fundamental to living a fulfilling life as they have the capacity to awaken passions and encourage us to strive for things we want. However, they do have a downside, because when these expectations are not met this can impact on our self-esteem and often our relationships with others, and that can, in turn have a direct effect on our happiness.
As the expectations we set for ourselves are often created subconsciously, we run the risk of getting caught in the trap of looking at how things should be, rather than how they are, feeling swept along by forces beyond our control. To become the master of your own destiny you need to consciously determine your own ideals and standards, to be aware of them and how it feels when they are met or not.
Expectations are created at an early age and are then reinforced over time through our experiences. As we grow up, we react to circumstances and decide how we would like life to be or how things should or should not be. These decisions become part of the mental attitude for what we expect of ourselves, others and life in general…”
If you would like to read the rest of the chapter, contact me to obtain copy of the book.