I was recently speaking about Creative Doing at a workshop, and had suggested that participants would be better off lowering their expectations for what their creative work would do for them. One participant responded by asking, “What are some good ways to let go of expectations?”
Three prompts come to mind for practicing letting go of expectations:
The other point is, of course, that you need to put yourself in a position where you actually can afford to let go of expectations of your creative work. It means getting the business right. I suggested that finding outside streams of income that don’t depend on your creative work—and thus alleviating it of pressure—would help you unblock your creativity.
To be clear, I’m not saying that you always need to lower your expectations. There are times to set low expectations for yourself—it could mean being happier and greatness—and there are times to set high expectations for yourself—when you need to rise to the occasion and demonstrate your excellence.