Humans are complicated. Not one person is like the other. Many circumstances define how we end up in our adulthood, factors are many: upbringing, schools, friends, parental problems, domestic problems, neighborhoods, even the city, country, and geopolitical environment we live in.

One of the few commonalities between us people is the recurrent positive expectation of outcomes. Ryan Renolds, one of my favorite actors, once said: “When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment”, and I think he nailed it right on the head. In layman terms: if you have expectations, then you might be happy or sad once that expectation presents itself as true or false, but if that expectation did not preemptively exist, then the option of being sad, or disappointed, would not be an option to begin with.

We expect a lot from other people.

We expect team members to perform at optimal efficiency. We expect people to reciprocate kindness. We expect replies to our texts and emails. We expect friends, colleagues, and managers to keep their promises. We expect everyone to keep an open mind to topics. We expect leaders to practice what they preach. We expect restaurants to stay on top of their food quality. We expect recruiters to give honest attention to cover letters. We expect the law to be fair. We expect employers to be principled. We expect partners and spouses to be reasonable. We expect neighbors to be considerate. We expect politicians to be conscientious. We expect a specific reaction when we perform a certain action. And the list goes on and on and on.

I learned this the hard way; keep your expectations high on achievement and low on people. I am not saying humanity is not to be trusted, I’ll leave you to be the judge of that, but what I do recommend is to keep expecting to become a better version of yourself, ultimately through hard work and achievement, both professionally and personally.

Maybe, just maybe, if we gradually keep increasing self-expectation, to achieve and not inflict self harm via disappointment, we could all eventually expect the best out of one another.