Have you ever gotten your hopes up and made elaborate plans only to end up disappointed?
Maybe you expected to go to a certain college and bought all its merchandise, only to be rejected in the end.
Or you planned to marry your high school sweetheart with whom you planned an entire destination wedding, only to break up with him a year later.
Life is unpredictable and anything can happen, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it’s important is to remember not to count your chickens before they hatch.
This common phrase reminds us that you shouldn’t get your hopes up or make plans based only on assumptions because that can lead to disappointment.
But why is it unwise to count your chickens before they hatch?
The Future Can’t Be Predicted
We tend to believe that we can plan, or at least prepare for, our lives. However, the reality is that no matter how much you plan and prep, anything can happen in the future. Change is the only constant. Life is unpredictable, and a sudden turn of events can change everything. In fact, 2020 was a testament to this. While this can be seen as a source of fear, it can also be a source of optimism!
Something Better Might Happen
Who says that things have to go wrong in the future? Maybe something even better than what you expect or hope happens, but you would have already prepared for what you had planned for.
For example, let’s say you were expecting a promotion at work. You were extremely excited, and you bought a new house in the area. However, a week later, you get an even better offer with double the salary at another company across the city. Sometimes over-planning can hold you back from something much more amazing than you expected!
Your Sense of Failure
Expecting things to go a certain way can often set you up for disappointment, affecting your internal sense of self-worth. Often, when things don’t go the way we plan, we feel like we have failed. Maybe you don’t get into the dream college you planned for your entire life, or you didn’t get that particular job. Although important, these things don’t determine how good your life can be. Afterall, there is no one way to live life. You may go to a different college where you meet your soulmate or discover a whole new career that lights your soul on fire.
But, by overplanning and putting too much pressure on the way things “should” be, when life goes another way, you can end up feeling like you failed. That can cause a dip in motivation, which can hold you back from the other wonderful options there were in life.
Instead of counting your chickens before they hatch, set realistic expectations. No matter how hard you try, remember that it’s impossible to control outcomes or other people’s actions. You can only control yourself.
Remember to keep a flexible mindset. When things don’t go your way, find the silver-lining. Assume that something better is around the corner! When you expect something better, it most likely will appear! But if you give up and let yourself feel weighed down by disappointment, you may be blind to all the golden opportunities right in front of you.
