Thursday, August 25, 2011

Appropriate expectations

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." 
— Albert Einstein

This giraffe can climb a tree, but that's one of his talents. Fish - not so much.
Becoming a healthy adult means setting appropriate expectations.

It's true - think about it! For every goal you set, the outcome in closely linked to how realistic your expectations of yourself are. It's the same for weight loss as it is for career aspirations or karaoke song choices (if you can't normally sing like Adele, then you should probably stick to something in your wheelhouse. Wisdom for the ages, folks).

We are designed for failure.

We are also designed to learn, grow and try again. Wretched are those who give up too easily or set goals too high to reach. They are both doomed to an unfulfilled life.

Think about what you're good at. What's your superpower? The better you know yourself, the more likely you are to set goals that challenge you and compel you to grow. 

How do you get to know yourself better? Ask your friends - they'll tell you.

Or take it to the mat - meditate, sit quietly or just lay in a hammock. Through the silence - away from regular distractions - who you are tends to bubble up to the surface and become a lot more clear.

So you can't climb a ladder - you're a fish dude. Swim, swim, swim!

3 comments:

Ruthie said...

This is awesome. Also, you should figure our your kryptonite and avoid it like the plague! :)

Amanda said...

Ah hahahahaha. Appropriate expectations. Ultimate super failure on my part. My life is setting high expectations for myself that don't apply to anyone else but me! But... I know myself extremely, extremely well and at least I never, ever give up? Maybe my goal can be realistic self expectations (but is that a realistic goal?!) and regaining self esteem (thank you workplace for kicking that to the kerb). I think I've been directing most of my thoughts and energy to self-preservation than personal challenge and growth. Hmmm. Thanks for the thinking material :)

Sarah said...

Genius idea Ruthie - that will be a post this week for sure!

Amanda - I totally feel you on this; being tough on yourself is an epidemic among smart women and it's sad because we would never judge others the way we judge ourselves! I think both of your goals are very realistic in that they are wonderful things to work toward that you absolutely can accomplish. In my world, the tough part is changing my behavior to match those goals (see today's WIM post - arg!)

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