William Shakespeare said “Expectation is the root of all heartache”

As Westerners, this tends to be our downfall: expectation.

When unchecked, this becomes our Achilles heel, the thing that drives us nuts and ultimately bitter.
 Yet we do it.  Again and again.
 We expect our children to behave in a certain way – towards us.  We expect our spouses to listen and support us, at all times.  We expect our boss to give us the raise, the praise the whatever.  We wait.  Expectations looming in the dark.  Wants go unfulfilled.  Disappointment festers.  Yet here we are.

The one place in your life where there should be little surprise and virtually no expectations is at work.
  I’ll make this very simple for you.

You are paid X to perform Z. For this task called your job, you are given money.

Furthermore, you are 100% responsible for your career development.  Thirty years ago, careers were groomed and mapped.  Today you are on your own.

As my second book, I Quit! Working For You Isn’t Working For Me states,

“it is not your mother/father/sister/brothers/nieces/cousins/neighbors/uncles/bosses’s job to make you happy.”

IT’S YOUR JOB TO MAKE YOU HAPPY
It is your job to make you happy and to manage your career.
  Smart employees figure this out and are slow to play hot potato with the blame game, angered at the boss when review time comes and they are given 3% when they deserve a 10% raise.  They get the game at work.  It’s about performance and money.  It’s about looking at the company and understanding if they even pay market for the skills offered.  It’s about giving their talent in exchange for pay.

And, like it or not, it is about politics.  Mostly, it’s about getting along in the office.


How can we as workers get away from the expectation trap?

Give.

Without expectation. Start at work.  Give your talent.

Practice random acts of kindness .

See what happens next.

Bio:
Elizabeth Lions is the Author of I Quit! Working For You Isn’t Working For Me and has a private career coaching practice helping engineers and IT professionals. For more about her work or to contact her directly, please visit www.elizabethlions.com