“Lowering expectations to the point of no resistance is what makes bigger things possible.”
Recently, I learned the concept of “Better Than Nothing“ goals…BTN’s for short. For someone who can be excessively goal oriented, this was liberating and enlightening. I had been a ‘slave’ to the idea of SMART goals…I’m guessing you’ve heard of them? The familiar—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Sensitive goals (with a few variations across literature) are sometimes a necessary tool for goal setting and achieving. But, what about BTN’s? To achieve a BTN, you have to lower your expectations… and as Laura Vanderkam puts it, lower them to the point of now resistance.
What does it mean to lower expectations to the point of no resistance? It means lowering your expectations to what is below realistic. For example, if you are a runner and can easily run a 5K daily, lowering your expectations to the point of no resistance would be making it a habit to run one mile daily instead. If you’re a writer and can easily write 500 words in a 15 minute daily session, set a goal to write 100 words in a 15-minute daily session.
Because there is no resistance, you will often exceed the expectations and do even bigger things. For example… I just wrote 144 words (this blog post) in 10 minutes. Wow! Bigger things really are possible.
Prayer: Lord, help me to set goals that meet no one’s expectations but YOURS!
Pondering: What areas of your life do you need to lower your expectations to the point of “no resistance”?
Play: Pick a hobby that you enjoy and set a “better than nothing” goal in which you have lowered your expectations to the point of no resistance.
Practice: Practice your better than nothing goal daily for the next 7 days. Journal how you feel