are you expecting?

Three years ago, a man called me about his wife’s membership to The Founding Moms. He asked me to cancel it because his wife had passed away.

When I launched the business, never in a million years did I expect that someone would die during my time running the company.

Two years before that, the IRS sent me a notice to demand I pay an overlooked $150 to them. Just seeing their logo on the envelope turned my stomach. Having a back-and-forth with them was a headache I never anticipated when I launched the business.

Then there was that time Google Alerts notified me that a post I’d written was on someone else’s website. It wasn’t quoted. I wasn’t given any credit. I clicked through to discover that a woman had stolen my website copy to use as her own. As I put the cease and desist letter in the mail I realized I’d never added “how to deal with digital theft” onto my business launch checklist.

It took me a long time to get over these kinds of surprises. I learned the hard way that what comes will come whether you want it to come or not.

If you’re picking up what I’m putting down: I never set out to launch a business with the expectation that people would die. Or move. Or get pregnant. Or close their businesses.

We prepare as much as we can. We try to anticipate every possibility that might affect us. We listen to recommended podcasts. We read great books. We talk to experienced colleagues. Yet some days surprises lurk around every corner.

Let’s set expectations straight on expectations, shall we?

It’s time to lose them.

Well, they’re there for a reason. They protect us. They calm our fears. They give us control over our own futures.

But they don’t really work. They don’t eradicate our anxieties and they surely don’t protect us when we’re thrown curveballs we didn’t expect to expect.

So, try speaking your expectations out loud to the people around you. See how they sound. Then spend more time staying open to what will come. Practice a willingness to go with the flow. Accept that the unexpected arrives to help you learn something.

You won’t enjoy making the shift but once you do you’ll see that there’s always a way through it.

See you soon,

jill