“It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.” – John Steinbeck
When you set your new goals for the year, did you expect to achieve them or were you “hoping” that just maybe this was the year you were finally going to successfully achieve your New Year’s resolution?
Most of the time the feeling of hope is simply a form of postponed disappointment. Please don’t confuse this with the hope we have in God because that is the one hope we all know will not be disappointing. My comparison of expectation to hope in this blog is more about an attitude.
When you set your resolution(s) or your BHAG’S or your “house cleaning” goals for 2012 (see 1/1/12 blog), were you expecting to accomplish them or just hoping?
Expecting can be dangerous if our expectations come in the form of other people, places and things but there is absolutely nothing wrong with having expectations for ourselves and the teams we lead.
I was blessed to be a part of some very special teams in my life and on each of those teams we expected to win every “game” which is probably why we won a lot of games in high school, college and business against opponents who were much bigger and stronger than us. We beat some opponents where the odds were stacked heavily against us.
When you expect to win, and expect greatness in all you do, you are beginning with the end in mind. And the end is great. When you start expecting greatness you will suddenly find your path to greatness becomes filled with meaningful actions all focused on the end. When losses, setbacks and failures occur, the attitude of expecting greatness causes us to evaluate the loss, learn from it and continue on our path to greatness.
When you hope to win, although you may have an end in mind, the word hope, in an of itself takes away the edge you feel when compared to expect. Hope gives you an out when the path of activity becomes challenging. It is a lot easier to walk away from a “hope” I have of myself than an expectation.
Can you imagine how your spouse would feel if you told him or her, “I hope to be a good spouse.” How would your kids feel if you told them, “I hope to be a good parent.” How would your boss feel if you told them, “I hope I can become a good worker.” How do you think God would feel if you say, “I hope there is a heaven.”
C’mon people quit hoping and start expecting and it all starts with you. What are the expectations you have of yourself? Are you expecting to achieve your goals or are you expecting failure?
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch
Proverbs 13:4, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” (NLT)
