Photo by Yasin Yusuf on Unsplash

Disappointment is when expectations are left unmet. 

Earlier in my career i’d wonder why clients, after two weeks of not feeling better, would become disappointed when they weren’t completely “better.”

What I started to see was that I wasn’t setting proper expectations. 

Even though I knew that the issue was likely going to take several months to resolve, AND, that it would be a straight line of progress, I wasn’t clearly sharing that with my clients. 

These expectations show up in every aspect of our lives, whether it’s a physical or mental ailment, relationships, fitness goals, and our careers. 

The higher our expectations, or rather, the less time we allow ourselves to achieve a given outcome, has a high likelihood of leading to disappointment. 

So what’s the takeaway? There’s two:

  1. If you are a person who withdraws and becomes demotivated by not hitting goals, then you should likely stop giving yourself unrealistic timelines and goals. (you can work to improve how you respond to not hitting goals but that’s a longer term “goal” for yourself)
  2. If you are a person that when they don’t hit their goal it only propels them further to work towards it — keep going, you’re on the right track. (given, you want to make sure the goal you are working towards is healthy for you, and the people + things you care about). 

There is of course a bit more nuance to this conversation, but this is a good place to start.