What To Do When You Fail To Meet Expectations

It’s going to happen. One day you’re going to let someone down.

This letdown may be your coworkers, your boss, your spouse, your parents, or some other important person in your life. The truth of the matter is you’re going to disappoint them at some point.

We all do it. We might as well be open and honest about this truth. Once we’re honest with ourselves, we can create a plan of action for what we can do when we fail to meet expectations.

Whenever we let someone down, there’s the pang of guilt. We know we didn’t uphold our end of the bargain. The ball was dropped. We were a disappointment.

We’ll often scramble to create an excuse as to why we failed to meet the expectations someone had for us. We’ll throw out excuses. We’ll blame others. We’ll clam up.

These negative actions do nothing to make up for what we did. They’re a thin covering that breaks trust.

There are positive actions we can take when we fail to meet expectations. These positive actions will help us to recover quickly from these disappointments.

Apologize quickly: If you set expectations for what you were going to accomplish and you failed to meet those expectations, take action and apologize quickly. Quickly inform the person you let down and let them know you’re sorry for not meeting the expectations that were set.

Doing so will let the others involved know you realize you didn’t do the job you set out to do. They’ll also notice you took the initiative and made the first move.

Take responsibility: When we step forward and take responsibility, we show that we know the buck stops with us. We had a commitment and we didn’t follow through on it, whether it was our fault or not. There’s power in doing so.

People begin to realize you’re not perfect. They also realize you’re not one to blame others. You’re willing to take accept responsibility and learn from the mistakes which were made.

Find a solution: You’ve apologized. You’ve taken responsibility. The next thing you should do is to find a solution.

Expectations weren’t met. There’s still a problem. And you’re still alive.

Look for creative solutions to those failed expectations. Share your possible answers and see if any of those possibilities will meet the expectations that were set.

Don’t let failed expectations derail your life. Know you can recover. You can even thrive.

Take the step to apologize, accept the responsibility, and look for new solutions. When you do, you’ll gain the respect of those you may have let down.

Question: What do you do when you fail to meet the expectations you set? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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