A Lower Bar

I’m talking expectations here, not limbo.

I’ve been a member of some great organizations over the years.  The main one that I’ve been active in for more than a decade is a group called EO – the Entrepreneur’s Organization.

I joined this great group because as an entrepreneur, there are many challenges you face that people who aren’t entrepreneurs just don’t get.

Things like complaining about the boss.  You’re the boss.  Who are you going to complain to?  Who do you have to blame for that situation?  You.  That’s a tough one.

What about the people who work for you.  If they do something you don’t like, you can’t talk to their peer about it.  That’s a violation of the first person’s right to have a bad day, and the second person won’t trust talking to you about anything.

So I needed a support group of peers.  All the friends I went to high school with were mid-level managers, teachers, lawyers, and other great things.  But they weren’t entrepreneurs.

So I joined EO.  Now, a decade later, I’ve heard the speakers.  I’ve been to the events.  I’ve done the learning.  And after a while, everything starts to sound the same.

That’s when I realized I was the problem.  Not the events or the speakers, it was me.  I had a bar that was set to high.

Sure, that speaker might be saying something you’ve heard before, but isn’t there a nugget of learning you can take away?

Sure, you’ve sat with that same group of people at a dozen other events, but what’s changed in their lives since you last saw them?

Sure, you’ve had that rubber chicken before, but don’t they wrap the vegetables nicely?

So what I’ve done is lowered the bar.  I don’t expect every moment, every event, every meal to blow my mind.

What I do expect is two simple things: Meet 1 new person, and learn 1 new thing.

You’d be amazed how much more you get when you learn one thing and actually apply it.  How much richer your life is for having met that one new person that becomes a friend over time.

This doesn’t just apply to great organizations like EO.  This applies to everything.  It’s your perspective that needs to change, not whatever you’re experiencing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning mediocrity.  You should strive for the best, but reality is there are going to be a range of experiences that are ‘meh’ to offset the range of experiences that are ‘amazing’.

Without the ‘meh’ there literally can’t be any amazing.  If everything was amazing, by definition it would all be ‘meh’.

So celebrate the ‘meh’ and lower the bar.  You’ll be amazed how much better your experience is.