I’ve been told, on more than one occasion, that I have high expectations. Whether these apply to family, friends, collegues, service providers, whatever, I seem to expect a lot. I even apply these high expectations to myself.  I’m a chronic perfectionist.  And when I/others fail to deliver, I am left frustrated, stressed and disappointed…

The crux of the problem here is that there is not so much of a problem with having high expectations, but more the fact that my expectations are unrealisticly high. I openly admit this fact, but I have yet been unable to figure out how to moderate my expectations. I have reduced my stress levels a good bit over the years, but I still get frustrated.

A collegue recently told me that I while its obvious that I am passionate about my job and very commited to it, I need to work on my communciation of that to others. It was a bit of awake up call to hear this out loud, but I had kinda realised it already myself.

I share a house with 3 lovely boys. They are great guys, but there is just one small issue. They are tidy, but not clean. You know what I mean. Everything is in its place, but there is a sticky patch on the ktchen floor. There are no hairs in the bath and the toilet seat is always put back down, but no one sees the scum on the bath and the dust gathering under the sink. Last week my housemate ‘cleaned’ the bathroom. On Friday night I came home and scrubbed it. This would have been fine except he came home while I was half way through, and was quite offended that I didnt think much of all his hard work. All I could do was say ‘it’s not you, it’s me’. And it is me. I had these skyhigh expectations of a sparkling tub that he could never live up to. There was no way he was going to do that much scrubbing.

Moral of the story? Keep your expectations in check, and communicate what you mean rather than be disappointed later.

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