Managing Expectations [119]

This week we’re celebrating our one millionth podcast download, something neither of us imagined when we started. And it made us think about expectations … where do they come from? What effect do they have? And how can we learn to manage them? During the course of the discussion, we unpick the difference between intentions and expectations and discuss whether Shakespeare had it right when he declared that “expectation is the root of all heartache.”

This episode starts with a rather long discussion about technical challenges, which is so on the money – because none of us expect that, when we decide to become an artist, we will spend large amounts of our time solving technology problems. But, it turns out to be a large part of the life of a working artist (IF you want to have control over this element of your career). As always, that gap (between what we expect and what is reality) can really catch us out.

Perhaps the answer is to have no expectations, but neither of us can claim to have attained that level of enlightenment just yet. But maybe being aware of the trap, and catching ourselves when we fall into it, is all we need to do.

Mentioned:

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Pleasures-Between-Covers-Book/dp/147461390X/

Alice’s Connected Artist Club: https://alicesheridanstudio.mykajabi.com/connected-interest

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Credits
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License