Expectations

For the most part, parents and teachers have expectations of you. They want you to get good grades, go to college and be a happy adult. But what counts more than that are your expectations of yourself.

Alexander Pope once said, "Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."

Well you might not have heard of Alexander Pope but I'm betting that you've heard of His Airness, Michael Jordan. Ironically, Michael was cut from his high school varsity basketball team in his sophomore year because the coach thought he was underdeveloped. From that incident, Michael realized that, "If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome."

Maybe you're one of those students who is gifted but you've been labeled an underachiever because you're not getting A's and B's. You could easily pull A's and B's but you choose not to. You have other interests or you just want to cruise through school and get the Hell out as quick as you can! You're bored. You just want people to leave you alone and let you do your own thing.

Or, you might be the kind of student who struggles just to get a "C". Chances are that school is not your idea of pure, unadulterated fun. But you know you need an education to get a good job. People's expectations of you aren't high. They say you'll be lucky just to graduate. A person who takes charge of their life will want to prove those people wrong. However, if you lack self esteem and self confidence, you'll most likely prove them right.

More than what anyone else thinks or expects of you, is what YOU expect of yourself. You can never set the bar too high for yourself. "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it" (Michelangelo). But it helps if you have a roadmap to get there.

More on the roadmap......................