Saturday, March 17, 2007

Unrealistic Expectations
The Number 4 Reason Why So Many Fail In Home Businesses

In this post we'll discuss "Unrealistic Expectations" - the number 4 reason why so many fail in home businesses. Before we continue let's format all the reasons why so many fail into an outline. This will help you follow our discussions.

#1. Poor Mind-Set
#2. Chasing The Wrong People
#3. Unsuitability
#4. Unrealistic Expectations

Annette is 19 years old, 4' 7" inches tall and weighs 87 lbs. She is physically well built for her size, agile and quick on her feet.

Her goal is to play professional basketball. Is this a realistic expectation for Annette?
Naturally, this is an unreal expectation for Annette. Unrealistic expectations are rarely ever mentioned by motivational speakers and self-styled Gurus.

It is not profitable to tell the teeming masses that there are many things they can not have and will never succeed at. It does not matter how motivated, enthusiastic, positive, persistent and determined they might be to achieve success or realize a dream.
Before you decide upon what you are willing to do, first determine, whether or not what you want to achieve is realistic for you the way you are right now.

Having a positive mental attitude is not only not enough, it can be dangerous and unhealthy if it is not firmly rooted in actuality and reality. You can be as positive as like about jumping out of a plane at 50,000 feet without a parachute. You can do it, but you won't live to tell about it. This is an unrealistic expectation.

If you are a 21 year old male 5' 4" tall and weigh 115 lbs, chances are excellent you won't be playing basketball for the L.A. Lakers, football for the Dallas Cowboys, baseball for the New York Yankees or be considered for any other high profile professional sports team. The price you are willing to pay, and what you are willing to do to accomplish this goal become irrevalent considerations. It is simply not going to happen in your lifetime because it is an unrealistic expectation.

The same holds true for income opportunities. Marvin's goal is an Internet Based Business Group that generates $70,000.00 a month. Is this a realistic expectation, considering where Marvin is right now? Presently, Marvin can't afford to invest heavily in advertising; nor can he afford to find others that are also willing to invest heavily in advertising. He can not afford to go offline and bring people online. At this point in his planning, Marvin's goal is unrealistic, regardless of what he is willing to do or how badly he wants to achieve it.

Johnny just joined an online business opportunity and sincerely expects to be a millionaire in 3 months. Allison signed up with a real estate program and is already telling her friends she'll be moving into a mansion within 30 days. Hyacinth just bought Joe Gurus lastest book on Internet Marketing and fully expects to have a million signups in 90 days. Pedro recently opened an online store and fully expects to be selling a million a month by the end of the year.

It is virtually impossibe to ovecome unrealistic expectations without a heavy dose of reality. This heavy reality dose will always have a positive impact on your life and your plans for personal achievement. The diminutive male and female in our examples can realize their dream of becoming professional athletes but in entirely different sports.

If Marvin paced his growth and expanded his business ventures over an extended period his goal becomes more realistic. In order to have realistic expectations in any endeavor, give yourself a heavy dose of reality. This will always improve your thinking and planning.

Unrealistic expectations also work in the reverse. You can underperform, underachieve and not reach or realize your full potential, creative ability or ascend to the heights you were meant to attain because unrealistic low expectations. These low expectations can cause any rational human being to undervalue himself/herself, his/her abilities, capabilities as well as,everything and everyone around them or anything and everything he/she is associated with.

Unrealistic expectations produces it fair share of business and life failures. It really doesn't matter whether it is high or low, it can be a source of anguish, anxiety, frustration and demoralization. It can rob you of performance, sleep, your health, your family, sanity, relationships and even your life. To avoid this failure trap, never divorce yourself from actuality and reality. In our next post, we will discuss "Poor Management", the number 5 reason why so many fail in home businesses.