My Coffee Break #011

You have expectations from your

Parents
Siblings
Friends and classmates
Boyfriend or girlfriend
Husband or wife
Colleagues
Your boss and teachers
That annoying relative(s)!
And the list goes on...

These are verbal, non-verbal, and self-imposed expectations from the environment we belong. I have a powerful metaphor for anyone struggling with all these noises and voices in your head (life).

Imagine you're running a marathon with a water bottle in your hand.
Marathon = Your life
Water bottle = Your dreams + career...

As you start walking with your water bottle in hand, you get another water bottle to carry for every turn/mile you cross. These new water bottles are from all those people above with their expectations from you.

As you cross only 11 miles on your journey, you're carrying the EXPECTATIONS of 10 other voices from your life. Among all these voices, you start losing your own; You don't know which one to perform and prioritize. You try to hold on to them all, worrying you'll disappoint them if you don't.

As a result, you are
Exhausted
Confused
Angry
Lost
Burned-out
Stuck!

As you collapse on the road, with the weight of 10 other people on your shoulder, you give up on your dreams and your life.

The worst part of it all is that those in your life don't often even realize how much they have burdened you as they cannot see the water bottles you're carrying of others.

You are no longer LEADING your own life. You've lost control of your journey.

You don't realize that *leadership is about disappointing people to the extent they can absorb*. Not more, not less.

It doesn't matter who they are, how important they can be. We will always disappoint people in life whether we want it or not. The question is, how much can you disappoint? How much is in your control?

Here's what you could/should do.

While carrying all these water bottles (expectations), put a little hole on the side of each of their bottles. Let their expectations pour out of the bottle. Let the weight of each bottle be much less than they are needed or often deserved to support your journey. It will automatically reduce all the burden you're carrying on your shoulder and the noises in your head.

You'll gain your focus again. You'll start leading your life that you always wanted, again.

Remember, you cannot let go of these people in your life as they make you who you are. They can be critical. But you can disappoint them, for all their expectations on you, to the extent they can absorb. To the degree they can handle without any extreme consequences.

There's always an expiry date to care about listening to someone else's advice in life and take responsibility to grow your sound judgment for it.

[#mycoffeebreakkk 011]
#work #inspiration #careerjourney #lifeadvice