Have you ever taken a few minutes to think about your expectations -- expectations about life, the people around you, and yourself?
Hereās why we ask. Because on a recent episode of āThe Best Advice Show,ā a guest and podcast host shared a brilliant tip involving expectations. Sarah May B., from the podcast āHelp Me Be Me,ā -- which is a self-help show for people who hate self-help, as she described -- talked about this favorite tool that she uses on a daily basis, in fact, probably multiple times daily: Expect the opposite.
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Itās a way to manually reset your expectations to open up room for something else to come forth, as Sarah May B. explained.
āOnce you realize your own role in the creation of your day-to-day experience -- like, specifically, your expectations of the world and others, and whatās going to happen -- itās like a magic trick,ā she said. āBecause you can alter it. I had no idea how much of my life I was actually creating, just via what I expected to have happen.ā
In case thatās a little too abstract for you, listen to the episode, below. Itās only 3 minutes, 50 seconds long.
She goes on to put it in more specific terms: For example, letās say you have a disagreement at work. Maybe your integrity feels threatened or someone insults you. Your body in that moment likely goes into a defense, case-building mode. Youāre probably saying to yourself, āThis is bad,ā or āThings are bad. This person thinks this or people think that.ā
Sarah May B. says in the moment youāre feeling all of that negative energy, close your eyes and mentally say to yourself the opposite. Maybe this is actually a good thing. Maybe this argument will make your situation at work better.
Even if you donāt believe this possibility in the moment, just know that it is possible. And just by suggesting this possibility to yourself, it unlocks the potential.
āItās like a secret portal in a video game,ā Sarah May B said.
Listen as she talks podcast host Zak Rosen through an example.
Rosen, by the way, wants to hear from you next.
To contribute some of your advice, drop him a voicemail at 844-935-BEST. Leave your name and your tip, followed by your email address in case he has any follow-up questions.
It can be deep or not-so-deep. Rosen has a āFood Fridaysā feature in which heād love to feature your cooking advice.
Heās not so much interested in platitudes and truisms, but instead, looking for the specific, odd, uplifting, effective, real advice from you about how you make it through your days.
āThe Best Advice Showā is a product of Graham Media Group. Download it wherever you listen to or access podcasts.