Gratitude, Expectations, and Ray Wylie

Gratitude, Expectations, and Ray Wylie

Gratitude, Expectations, and Ray Wylie

In one of my favorite lyrics, musician Ray Wylie Hubbard (@RayWylie) says, “The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, those are good days.”  I think it goes without saying that gratitude is an amazing “happiness strategy”.  Check out this post to read more.   Expectations, on the other hand, get us in trouble.  The expectations we have of ourselves and others are one of the quickest ways to get frustrated and disappointed.

I have found that we get frustrated when people don’t meet our expectations when, in reality, most of the time we haven’t even clearly communicated what our expectations are.  Think about the last time you were frustrated with or disappointed in someone.  Chances are, it was because your expectations weren’t met.  Did you clearly communicate them?

“The days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days.”

I once had a friend who said he was never disappointed because he always kept low expectations.  I think Ray Wylie Hubbard is on to something.  This holiday season, don’t forget to keep your gratitude higher than your expectations.

I’m curious to know if you’ve found this to be true.  Leave a comment here or join us on Facebook to share!

Subscribe to Anne's Resilience Reset Email!

Anne breaks down the daily habits and skills needed to grow and cultivate RESILIENCE.

Time to reflect. 🌈😂 #fridayfunny #dadjokes ...

If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

Most of us are taught this simple lesson when we are kids. Unfortunately, it is not always practiced once we are adults. The human tendency to attribute our behavior to our intent and others’ behaviors to the type of person they are is referred to as the fundamental attribution error. Someone runs a stop sign, and we think they are a jerk. We run a stop sign and “oops”.

Regardless of our intentions, people only know what they see through our actions, and we only know what we see through the actions of others. In between our intentions and our actions lies a chasm.

How do you bridge the gap between intentions and actions? Try the following strategies 👆👆
...

Sometimes we inadvertently make our life a whole lot more difficult than it needs to be. It’s time to help others help you. #mindfulmonday ...

Ah, difficult conversations. You know, that conversation with your partner, co-worker, boss, or family member that you just don’t want to have.

While there is no magic formula that applies to every tough conversation, I have found that the following 7-steps makes it much easier. 🗣️
...

When we can separate our identity from our abilities, we are able to learn from failure, rather than assign judgment. #mindfulmonday #growthmindset #mindfulness #personalgrowth #success ...

Building resilience is a journey, y’all. 🤠💪 ...

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: There is no connected account for the user 17841402190429664.

Read Up on Resilience!

Anne’s Books Available on Amazon.com!

ANNE GRADY IS A SPEAKER, AUTHOR, AND #TRUTHBOMB DROPPER!

Anne Grady is a Speaker, Author, and #TruthBomb Dropper.

Anne shares practical strategies that can be applied both personally and professionally to improve relationships, navigate change, and triumph over adversity. And she’ll make you laugh while she does it. Anne is a two time TEDx speaker, and her work has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fast Company and Inc. magazines, CNN, ESPN, and FOX Business. She is the best selling author of 3 books. Her newest, Mind Over Moment: Harness the Power of Resilience, is available on Amazon now.

MAIN OFFICE
(512) 821-1111
BILLING & MAILING ADDRESS
P.O. BOX 5815  |  ROUND ROCK, TEXAS  |  78683

8 Comments

  1. Happy Monday Anne! I feel like you read through me. I am so guilty of setting high expectations, then get frustrated. Thank you for the tips. You are awesome! Have a great week! 🙂

  2. I also have been accused of setting high expectations. With 4 children at home and a department of 40 at work, communicating my expectations is a constant effort. Thank you for the post.

  3. I don’t know if I agree with this… Sometimes, having low expectations leads to self-fullfilling prophecies in our lives and in the lives of those that we have low expectations for… I would much rather learn to be err on the side of having my expectations TOO HIGH and learn to appreciate whatever the reality turns out to be than to have my expectations TOO LOW and risk setting someone up for being less than their true potential. (Aim for the moon… Even if you miss, you still land in the stars!)

    • Very good point, Michelle! I don’t mean that you should have low expectations or your self and/or others, only that you communicate what your expectations are so that everyone is clear. I think when people disappoint us or fail to meet our expectations, it’s not that they are too high, just that we haven’t communicated what they are in the first place 🙂

  4. One of the Four Noble Truths at the heart of Buddhism states that the root of all suffering is desire. Once I figured out that “desire” means expectations, that whole philosophy suddenly made a lot more sense to me and provides a useful perspective — life is not ideal, and events, things, people (you name it) frequently fail to live up to our expectations. So maybe we shouldn’t sweat it. 🙂

    It definitely helps to figure out what you want and articulate it, and it’s even better to look for unexpected blessings.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment