Inspect What You Expect
“Did you brush your teeth?” My son Charlie was eight years old. The expectation was that he brush his teeth every morning before school, and every night before bed. I thought I was very clear in my daily instruction. For whatever reason, actually getting him to follow through and brush his teeth was quite a challenge
“Yup!” He’d answer in the affirmative every time. But I often had a hunch he wasn’t telling the truth. So I would ask him again, giving him another chance to be honest: “Are you sure you brushed your teeth?” And he would emphatically say yes every time. One night instead of arguing back and forth and accusing him of lying once again, I decided to inspect what I expect. I walked down the hall to the bathroom and picked up Charlie’s toothbrush.
Just as I thought: It was dry. He was busted. And from that point forward, he stepped up his game because I had stepped up mine. Inspect what you expect.
It’s not enough to have an expectation for a result you are going for. It’s also critical that you double-check the work, whether this pertains to your kids, your employees, or yourself. By inspecting your work, you know for sure if it is actually getting done. This combination of expectation and inspection— when done consistently— often leads right to success.
In the weight loss app Noom, the participants are expected to track their meals each day and eat a certain amount of “green” foods (healthy, low calorie veggies and fruits) and balance the “yellow” foods (pastas, grains and proteins) and the “red” foods (high calorie foods like desserts, cheese, and alcohol.) Log your meals into the app: that’s the expectation. But you also are instructed to step on the scale every morning to weigh in— that’s the inspection. If you’re logging the food and the scale is moving downward, then you’ve got success.
Parents, you know it’s not enough to expect kids to do their homework. Your child will have better results when you consistently ask to inspect the finished product. After instituting a daily inspection habit over and over, your child learns that this is the drill. They should begin to produce the homework— sometimes without even being asked. You’ve set the expectation, and they know you’ll be inspecting the results. The child now knows exactly what he or she needs to do to be successful.
This simple lesson applies to every commitment we have: Inspect what you expect. Imagine you have great intentions of getting up in the morning to work out… but have you set the stage for this expectation to come to fruition? Is your alarm set early enough? Are your workout clothes and sneakers laid out the night before, waiting for you? Do you have a plan to meet someone for accountability— your friend, or your personal trainer? Have you pre-selected your online class that you and your BFF are going to take together? This is the inspection part of the commitment.
Without it, all you have is wishful thinking.
Think about an area in your life where you have difficulty following through. Ask yourself: what’s the expectation I have for this goal? Then look at your inspection process: is there something you could implement that would insure your success? Consider you could:
Download an app to track your goal.
Create a page in your journal to track the goal. Before long, you’ve got a habit.
Find an accountability partner to check in with.
Find an accountability partner to actually do the activity with.
Set an alarm on your watch, your Alexa, or your Google device to remind you daily to get in action.
Plan a reward for yourself when you hit a streak goal (20 days in a row of meditation, or 10 weeks in a row of working out consistently). A reward adds to your motivation.
Inspect what you expect. My mentor taught me this lesson 25 years ago. Who knew how many times, and in how many areas, this would be so incredibly useful in my life? I hope you find that this simple extra step of accountability will make a profound difference in your life as well!
This Week’s Resources
Why Generosity is Good For You
What if being generous not only benefits the recipient, but also provides health benefits to you? Did you know that being generous might even help extend your life expectancy? Read here for a great article on this symbiotic concept: https://www.psychalive.org/why-generosity-is-good-for-you/
Does Noom Really Work?
You can ask those of us who’ve successfully used (and still use) the program. You can also do your own research on the Noom website. But this article from an outsider’s perspective is quite informative and helpful if you are considering Noom’s psychological approach to weight loss and better health: https://www.verywellfit.com/noom-how-it-works-cost-what-experts-think-4843025
National Spouses Day
Did you know that Wednesday January 26th is National Spouses Day? Did you miss National Popcorn Day last week? Who can keep track of all these “national days” anyway? You can! Click here for the National Days Calendar: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/
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