The Paradox of Expectations

As a student I have expectations I set for my self and now, as a member organizing team my expectations are meant to benefit everyone who’s a part of this semesters ITM. We all want this event to be successful. It’s about making something happen, learning in the process and pushing our selves into becoming better creative individuals. We need to step up and getting rid of, if possible- mediocrity. Expectations give us a clear picture of what we want to achieve, what we want to happen and whose lives we want to impact.

One of my personal expectations is to develop a harmonious relationship with the members of the organizing team team, we all need to work together and face hardships and successes as a team. It’d be nice to work with people whom you get along with. It motivates people to work better somehow. That’s just one of my many personal expectations. Generally, I just hope for a more successful ITM event, hope we’d all be able to accomplish everything on time without procrastinating or doing everything up to the last minute, preparing in advance is good, delay is never a good thing. I honestly hope that we all just learn and enjoy from this opportunity presented to us and not take it for granted.

In the end, the paradox of expectations shouldn't be determined by simply saying that they are good or bad. Expectations are neither good nor bad they are both. The responsibility solely lies within us. They are what we make them and what we make of them. Our expectations are authentic and are normally self-generated and the only thing is that we usually struggle in their attainment, which is perfectly normal. The results are worth it in the end. We all strive to meet expectations with reality because the truth of the matter is happiness and success are measured in terms of whether or not expectations were met (or exceeded).

In order to meet or exceed one’s expectations instead of trying to lower down our expectations (like what most people do) we must be prepared and learn to sacrifice many things mostly our time and energy. We need to focus and really just step outside our comfort zones and our beds. We need to set aside our personal ambitions and focus on what will benefit everyone who’s involved.

Let me end with one of the things I learned from last semester’s ITM talk given by Raoul Panes from Leo Burnett

"Creativity is bound by deadlines. It is measured by results."

     By Maria Julia Margarita De Jesus