Don't expect any help!
I hear this again and again - and I know it from my own experience: How can I get better or achieve peak performance if my environment seems to be working against me?
What do I do if my colleagues don't have the same ambition as me? Or if the others raise their eyebrows when I tell them about my latest findings from a good book? Or if my wife / girlfriend / partner / husband / boyfriend and so on don't have the same pace of development as me?
Perhaps you are familiar with this challenge. In principle, all people who want to achieve more than the average - probably you too.
My first tip may sound frustrating: Don't expect others to support you. Maybe, if you're lucky, they will, but don't automatically assume that they will. This applies to colleagues and also to relatives, friends and life partners. It is important to understand that friendships often last for certain phases in life and can change over time. Therefore, you should not compulsively expect friends to always have the same priorities as you.
But how do you actually deal with it if you don't feel supported by your environment?
Here are three steps that can help:
- Step No. 1: Don't expect understanding from others. Hoping for understanding can only lead to disappointment. Instead, focus on pursuing your own goals and dreams, regardless of whether others understand or support them. Expecting too much will almost inevitably lead to disappointment anyway. I have already written about this elsewhere.
- Step No. 2: Develop a clear vision and mission for yourself. Ask yourself where you want to go in life and why. By clearly defining your own goals, you can better understand what you are fighting for and what kind of support you need. For most people, this is exactly what is not clear. So: do your homework first!
- Step No. 3: Take full responsibility for your life. Even if your environment is not ideal or does not support you, you are still the master of your own destiny. Take matters into your own hands and find ways to achieve your goals, even if it's difficult. This sounds a lot like "motivational talk", but it's simply true. I also speak from my own experience of personal development on this point.
Conclusion: Not being able to rely on help
It is important to realize that we do not always have to rely on the support of others to achieve our goals. By managing our own expectations, developing a clear vision for ourselves and taking full responsibility for our lives, we can succeed despite adverse circumstances.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
