Expectations...

Wake up in the morning. Something doesn’t happen the way you want it to. News paper has not come…Dhobi has not delivered the clothes..You burn your toast. You are getting late for that management meeting!!.

Little things that you “expect” to go your way but doesn’t. It spoils your day.

Sounds familiar?

It’s normal to have expectations

We go through life with all sorts of expectations whether we realize them or not. Many times, we feel frustrated because what we expect doesn’t happen. In your journey towards, financial freedom, fame, you expect to live within your means. You expect the investment you put money in to double in a few years time. You expect to be financially free in 10 years’ time.

There’s nothing wrong with having expectations. It’s important to set goals and strive for targets.

But having unrealistic expectations about things you CANNOT control can leave you a very frustrated traveller on this road towards financial freedom

Don’t over-react…

I remember this morning our Aaya (maid) got very upset because our dog, scissor, threw up in the house. This meant more washing and also the precious formula we fed him went to waste. I too ideally wanted our puppy to be able to go out, but because his appetite was not big, he needed to have smaller feeds and sometimes threw up when he ingested too much .Not that Scissor couldn’t communicate, but Aaya couldn’t read his body language as well as I would have or mom would have.A.and the fact that Scissor didn’t like her at all.

What got us upset was not so much that Scissor threw up but the way Aaya expected all things to be smooth and perfect. She went a little ballistic and it made our morning more tense that it needed to be.(particularly mom’s..who feared that Aaya would leave. After a long time she had found a reliable, trustworthy, hygienic domestic help !! )

And so it is with many of us in our journey towards fame, increased business, financial freedom.. which is another facet of our journey in life. I too get upset at times. I remember feeling so tired and frustrated that all after all my efforts in designing this machine , the numerous round of discussions had with the customer, we couldn’t get the order (more frustrating when our designs were passed on to another miniscule of a company who did the job for these guys. I “expect” my every effort to win us business , the confidence of knowing that you are one of the best in your business!!. It works most days but sometimes it doesn’t.

Life is not a straight road without obstacles and challenges. Our journey towards financial freedom will be disrupted. My net worth is on the decline during this period of global uncertainty and economic recessions. Stock market valuations could take a sometime to recover..as per the Pundits..may be a year (god forbid!!).Not that I have lot many shares..just a few of them from the auto sector, steel and software… Sure, like many people, I “expected” my net worth to grow in a straight line up and up like superman. But the reality is that almost all my share holdings are submerged like aqua man swimming in the depths of the ocean.

Managing expectations

The principles of financial freedom have not changed. I still strive to live within my means. To save and invest as well as seeking ways to grow and protect my means. The other day my friends Deepu and two of them invested in Satyam since the values had dipped to rupees 19.I was tempted to join them..but decided to wait and watch for all the uncertainties about this firm !!

One of the things that my mom has taught me is patience , an attitude of thankfulness and also control of emotions. I was almost an emotional wreck when my first girlfriend left me. But for mom, I would have never ever coped with it. My life now revolves around her .She is most certainly my strength .

I learn to manage my expectations about the predictability of day-to-day occurrences since she’s around.

Expect the unexpected

I visit shareinvestor.com forum to learn and share with the investors, punters and tokays on the website. One term that pops up when equity pundits talk about direction of share prices is to “expect the unexpected”.

Really what this statement means to me is to build up the mechanisms to cope with whatever happens. The more I see the world from the view of “TheBlack Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness” written by Nicholas Nassim Taleb, the more I feel that the world is more random that we think it is.

Since we cannot control the random events, the next best thing is to control ourselves. The way we react to external events. As Taleb puts it, if you are going to be executed, make sure you shave is his advice in confronting events that are outside of our control.

Continue to live within our means, to save and invest, to grow and protect our means. These fundamental principles are enduring. In life , things don’t always happen as we plan !!

Ah but don’t stop dreaming..don’t stop aspiring…in adversity lies opportunity !!

Be well and prosper.