Expectations

What expectations do I have for myself?

What’s the standard to which I hold myself?

My priorities have changed at each stage of my life

Year-to-year

Month-to-month

Day-to-day

The only piece of wisdom I'll stand behind:

"This too shall change"

Other people constantly adjust their expectations of me as well

Layering on their own interpretations of my growth, my skills, my position

So, amidst all of these changes

How do I know what to do?

How do I know how I'm doing?

What's the measure of success?

How do I adjust to these changing expectations?

My tactic is to consistently reorient around the only 2 questions that matter:

Am I living aligned with my True Self?

Am I doing my best?

Unfortunately, the answers will not remain static

The precise moment I exceed expectations

The goalposts shift

The situation changes

It's different now

Because I've exceeded expectations

Now, I've defined a new "best"

I've progressed past my previously perceived limits

I’ve pushed to a new frontier

An allusion to the Tom Sachs phrase:

"The reward for good work is more work."

Granted, today's "peak performance" ought not to be the expectation every day

After all, my energy, body, & environment will also change daily

So the standard set yesterday is already outdated

For better or worse, the previous expectation always has an expiration

Thus, all I can do in this moment is ask myself those 2 simple questions:

Am I living aligned with my True Self?

Am I doing my best?

All I can do is ask & answer with absolute honesty

Then… let all other forms of expectation just fall away