The Inflation Survey of Consumers Expectations for 2022 was released on Wednesday. Overall the survey showed everyone expects things to SUCK just as bad this year as they did in 2021. It varied on how bad but generally, everyone said it will SUCK.
I don't really care much for the actual inflation numbers. I am more interested in the way we come up with expectations. I read a blog by Barry Rithzholt talking about our perception of time. Here is a little snipper from the article1:
It is even worse in the modern era. The forces behind our “inability to sit quietly” include, the 24/7 news cycle, Recency Effects, Social Media, even FOMO. Perhaps most significant of all is the concept of Time; more specifically, the way we experience time in the modern era.
There is the Here & Now — that’s pretty much it.2 Our memories are fallible, nostalgia-tinged recollections, error-prone, and self-edited to make ourselves look and feel better. The future is unknown and unknowable, mostly wishful thinking that too often fails to anticipate the (in hindsight) obvious, while always completely missing the unexpected.
And, we just barely exist within those parameters. We are hardly present, easily bored, always looking for a distraction. And the “right now” is the best we can hope for.
The general idea is WE SUCK at the understanding of time as it flows.
We believe the present will last forever.
We don't remember the past well enough and because of this we create stories to fill in the gaps in our memories (we have talked about the power of our brain to come up with stories).
And the future is unknowable so we just extrapolate the present thinking our current situation will last forever. So the cycle continues
It is important to understand our perception on time because:
How we process the Past
How we experience the present
And what we think about the future
They determine the goals we set. And the goals we set determine the trajectory of our lives.
I heard a quote from a sport’s commentator, David Jacoby. He said, "Happiness is the result of realistic expectations."
I love the way Morgan Housel puts it "Happiness is the Results minus the Expectations"
As we begin 2022, I know most of us are deciding on our goalss or resolutions for the year. I want us to be VERY MINDFUL about the expectations we are basing those goals on. I want us to be TRULY HONEST with ourselves on the expectations we have for 2022. We have to be really honest about what we can actually accomplish. Because just as bad as setting no goals is setting goals that are ridiculously out of our reach.
Too often we set these lofty goals that we know make no sense. Then we get burned out, accomplish nothing, and give up completely on accomplishing anything.
Every year the Number ONE New Year's Resolution is (you can say it with me):
I want to lose weight!
On the surface, this seems like a very normal and admirable goal.
But the questions to ask are:
Why is this always the number 1 goal for almost every single person, every single year?”
Why are we unable to achieve this goal every single year?
From the outside looking in, it's very simple in my eyes
We set a lofty target as their goal.
We pick arbitrary numbers (usually based on a past mythical self that no longer exists. We are anchored to the past) as our weight target. When things inevitably don’t move in that direction as quickly as we feel it should. We get burned out and QUIT even trying to move in a positive direction for our health.
The other big goal most of us is usually something financially. The biggest financial goal that is set every single year is
I want to be debt free
Again on the surface, this is an excellent thing to strive for. Question again is “Why is this always a goal every single year?”
The answer goes back to OUR EXPECTATIONS.
We tend to believe that our will is enough to power us through and get to the end of the tunnel. That if we just brute force our way, we will pay off all our debt without setting a plan or a system or a process in place. We usually do not do the actual math to figure out exactly how long it will take to pay off debts based on our monthly payment plan based on our income and our expenses. We also do not take into account our current mental model on money and spending. Meaning we believe that the new year will come and magically we will no longer want to spend money on random stuff.
We just get hyped up after listening to a random person on Dave Ramsey talk about how they paid off their debt in a short period of time and we believe we can too. We never factor in the specifics of how they did it.
Are they high earners?
Did they have multiple income sources aka married?
Did their parents help them?
We just jump in guns blazing. Picking up multiple side hustles in hopes that things will just work themselves out. But usually, we end up BURNT OUT and TOTALLY FRUSTRATED!
Now look, I am not saying to not set lofty and hard goals or not to listen to motivating stories. It is necessary to set DIFFICULT goals if we want to grow. It is also necessary to hear other people talk about their victories. To give us an idea of what it is to aim for.
However, I want you to actually know that your goals are DIFFICULT. So when you eventually miss the targer, you are not disappointed, discouraged, and give up. I also want you to not compare your initial sketch to someone’s finished painting.
I want your expectations going into the process of whatever you are doing to be set right. I am tired of seeing people get burned out and missing out on so MUCH because their expectations were not set properly.
So please as we begin another year, another chapter of life.
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF!
Know what is within your power to accomplish and what is outside of your power to accomplish. Set goals that push you to work harder. But also with the realization that if I cannot accomplish them that is okay because progress is sometimes more valuable than completion.
Thank you for reading.🙏🏾
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Remember GENEROSITY > greed
God bless Each and Everyone of y’all
MERRY CHRISTMAS
✌🏾
-Kelechi
I combined two of his articles to come to my conclusion. This is the second Article on Time called About Time