The dance between expectations and reality

If we have low expectations, we will accomplish little and put up with much that we should not.

If our expectations are too high, we set ourselves up for disappointment when reality doesn’t meet them.

Always do your best.  Always have high expectations.

But there are times when lowering your expectations can lower frustration and disappointment, and increase your happiness and satisfaction.

There is no point in creating mental suffering from your own misplaced expectations.

Don’t win the race to the bottom.

The problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win.

When things start getting ugly, take the high road.

Am I going to be changed by this?

The best adventures have you coming back a different person.

When my son and I decided to race the longest off-road race in the world, we entered a daunting challenge, not knowing what we were doing.  Little did I know it would change everything for me. I learned about myself and my body.  I learned about preparation and confidence like never before. I met new people in new places and saw new things. It turned into an 11-year (so far) multi-part adventure that took me around the world.

The best adventures don’t merely give you photographs – they change you.  They stretch your resources and perspectives.

It doesn’t have to be climbing Mt. Everest.  It could be going to a Chamber of Commerce meeting, finding a company leader, and asking four prepared, intelligent questions.  It could change you.

It could be going to a climbing gym and getting out of your comfort zone.  (I did that, and ended up building my own climbing gym myself and introducing many, many people to climbing for the first time.)

It could be volunteering at a place you’d never have thought of before.

There is no shortage of exciting adventures you can take to get out of your groove and change your life.

What’s next? 

Eat for how you want to feel in two hours

If you eat for what tastes good and is satisfying right now, you won’t perform well in two hours.

If it’s all about feeling good right now, then you eat sugar, other junk, and don’t move much at all.

Healthy living becomes practical when we connect today’s choice with how we want to feel a few hours later.

Choose food, movement, and rest that produce energy – not merely momentary pleasure.

As the years go by, your habits will accumulate in your body and manifest long-term results too.

Raise Your Floor

Ambitious goals raise our ceiling, but dependable minimum standards raise our floor.

Your life is shaped less by what you do on your best days than by what you do on your worst days.

Decide what you will do even when you are tired and are “not feeling it today”.

Like how Floor 18 holds up the celebrated top floor of a 100-story building, your worst days hold up your best ones.

Build a life filled with habits that don’t collapse when things aren’t perfect.