Experience does not err. Only your judgments err by expecting from her what is not in her power.

— Leonardo da Vinci

LEADERSHIP

WHAT THIS MEANS

Reality is never wrong; your expectations of it are. When something disappoints you, the disappointment sits in the gap between what happened and what you assumed should happen, and only one of those is available for correction. Blaming the situation feels natural and changes nothing. Adjusting the forecast is the part genuinely in your hands.

After the next thing that goes badly, ask what you expected and where that expectation came from. Often it was never examined at all. Making it explicit either confirms it as reasonable or shows you the source of a frustration you have been repeating for years.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Where did you blame the situation for failing your unrealistic expectation?

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