{"id":91754,"date":"2023-02-05T13:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T17:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=91754"},"modified":"2023-02-09T14:16:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T18:16:16","slug":"impossible-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/impossible-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Impossible Expectations & the Planning Fallacy: How to Get Real"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How well do you predict what it will take to reach your goals<\/a>? Do you give up when you fail to make the progress you expect to make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we set goals, we also tend to set impossible expectations about reaching them. Then we get discouraged when we don’t hit certain benchmarks along the way. The tendency toward unrealistic expectations connects to a cognitive bias<\/a> called the planning fallacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more to learn about setting impossible expectations and the planning fallacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Impossible Expectations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Walter explains that we set impossible expectations by underestimating the amount of time and effort it takes to reach our goals. When we neglect to put the necessary time and effort into our endeavors, we\u2019ll likely fail to reach our goals. This failure discourages us from continuing to work toward our goals in the future, crippling our ability to self-discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you make the easy decision to give up rather than putting in the time and effort necessary to achieve your goal, you weaken<\/em> your ability to self-discipline. This is because giving up is another form of temptation and instant gratification<\/a>. When you practice these habits that are the opposite<\/em> of self-discipline, they grow stronger while your ability to self-discipline grows weaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your goal might be to learn how to knit. To do so, you need to practice one hour per day for one month. Someone who sets unrealistic expectations might think that spending one hour a day practicing for a week is enough to master the skill. Another person with unrealistic expectations might practice for a month but spend only two hours a week practicing. Both people give up at the end of their allotted time frame because they didn\u2019t put in the necessary time or effort to complete their goal. When they give up and stop trying<\/em> to knit, they\u2019re giving into temptation rather than practicing their ability to self-discipline, consequently weakening their ability to self-discipline in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Overcome This Tendency<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Walter recommends taking the time to analyze your goals and the actions you\u2019re taking to reach them. Ensure that you\u2019re not engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors<\/a> that set you up for failure, like setting unrealistic expectations. Ask yourself what a rational time frame to complete your goal is, what work you must do to achieve it, and how often or when you need to do that work to reach your goal within the given time frame. This realistic analysis will reduce your chance of failing and giving up, thus preserving your self-discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Planning Fallacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Experts explain that the tendency to set unrealistic expectations can be linked to an underlying cognitive bias called the planning fallacy<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> This theory states that people tend to underestimate how much time it\u2019ll take to complete tasks<\/a> (or reach goals) due to poor planning and overly optimistic performance expectations. They elaborate that this tendency is the result of three main biases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n