It’s human nature to want to get the very most out of life, but it’s inevitable that some things don’t turn out as we would have liked them to. You could make yourself substantially happier if you simply adjust your expectations.
As a student at Cambridge University, the world-renowned physicist and author Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease. In Hawking’s case, it led to the gradual loss of his motor functions, eventually leaving him almost completely paralysed.
In an interview in 2004, Hawking was asked how he managed to remain so cheerful. “My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21,” he replied. “Everything since then has been a bonus.”
It’s a powerful lesson that all of us can learn from: human beings are generally happier when they lower their expectations. It’s not how things turn out that’s most important, but the gap between reality and what we were expecting. Adjusting your expectations really can be transformational.
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