It doesn't matter what you're asked to do there always seems to be a list involved. SWOT analyses are glorified lists. Excel files are also all glorified lists. There is very little that can't be defined as a list. A problem with lists is that they can backfire. It's as simple as with statistics, if you put in the wrong type of stats and try and find relationships between two variables which are completely unrelated, for example rainfall and visits to the toilet, you might find a connection but it will not really mean anything. What's even more frustrating is that when we're asked to list something because the list is supposed to help us in some way, and we do so, but the list ends up showing something completely the opposite and we end up even further from home. Not only is this frustrating, but it sends the wrong messages. You're so focused on the fact that you'll get a definite answer from your pretty list that it hits you twice as hard if the list fails to give you meaningful results. It is equally frustrating when your fantastic list gives you different results to what you were expecting. After compiling several lists on particular subjects and not getting the results I was hoping for, I have all but given up on lists and their results. The problem is obviously me because I should accept the results as truth, according to experts, but maybe its better to find out how we can use the results to gain some sort of benefit.
These expectations that we attach to lists are equally important in other situations. When you play a sport that's primarily a one-on-one sport its best for your mental resolve to always expect that your opponent will pull off that one crazy shot or action that will win the game. It smooths out the mental roller coaster that we go through. But can we do this for other situations besides competition, sport, and lists? Can we smooth out the highs and lows we experience that are common to the expectations we and others have when it comes to the choices we make in our life? Can we cope with others and our own expectations? And in what way are our own expectations formed by the expectations that others have of us? There are enough examples in the sports world where the parents expectations break up the person that has to live up to those expectations. The suicide rate of Japanese teenagers is the highest in the world because they are expected to perform to crazy standards by parents and institutions alike. I'm not saying that we should set goals and expectations to a low level which we can achieve easily, I wouldn't be running if that was my opinion, but we should become more aware of how expectation influence us.
What is more difficult is to make a choice while expecting to get negative results even though there is a chance that the results might be great. However, I still need a little more time to think on this subject. It's a subject for another time and for the Comments column...
These expectations that we attach to lists are equally important in other situations. When you play a sport that's primarily a one-on-one sport its best for your mental resolve to always expect that your opponent will pull off that one crazy shot or action that will win the game. It smooths out the mental roller coaster that we go through. But can we do this for other situations besides competition, sport, and lists? Can we smooth out the highs and lows we experience that are common to the expectations we and others have when it comes to the choices we make in our life? Can we cope with others and our own expectations? And in what way are our own expectations formed by the expectations that others have of us? There are enough examples in the sports world where the parents expectations break up the person that has to live up to those expectations. The suicide rate of Japanese teenagers is the highest in the world because they are expected to perform to crazy standards by parents and institutions alike. I'm not saying that we should set goals and expectations to a low level which we can achieve easily, I wouldn't be running if that was my opinion, but we should become more aware of how expectation influence us.
What is more difficult is to make a choice while expecting to get negative results even though there is a chance that the results might be great. However, I still need a little more time to think on this subject. It's a subject for another time and for the Comments column...
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