113. Navigating the Intersection of Ambitions and Expectations with Wade Brill

Overview

What lies at the intersection of ambition and expectation? 

On today’s episode, I’m welcoming back Wade Brill to discuss just that. We start first by getting clear—what are definitions of ambitions, ambitious, and expectations? And how do we manage when expectations are present? 

Expectations are tricky to manage and can cause a lot of suffering. Wade shares practical advice for noticing when expectations are present and how we can have more compassion for ourselves as we navigate these intersections, and we talk about learning to work with expectations to bring more ease into our lives. 

If you’ve been struggling with managing expectations of yourself or from others, this episode is for you.

Listen below or on your favorite podcast player.

More About Our Guest

Wade Brill is a Mindfulness Coach, Podcaster and Speaker who helps busy professionals experiencing stress and overwhelm be more present, productive and energized. At the age of 21, Wade survived Hodgkin’s Lymphoma while simultaneously losing her mother to Leukemia. This major life interruption inspired Wade to realize how precious life is and that practicing radical self-care is smart, not selfish. Wade devotes her life’s work to helping others connect to their own inspiration.

Wade is a Professional Certified Coach, Energy Leadership Index™ Practitioner, and Meditation Facilitator through UCLA’s Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She hosts the popular Centered in the City podcast and is the creator of the Centered In the City on-demand platform, offering modern meditations and self-care resources for busy professionals. Wade is a recognized speaker at conferences, companies, and retreats. Wade helps busy professionals create calm and clarity amid chaos and realize the importance of their one mind, one body, and one life.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Defining ambition with desire, commitment, and effort

• How being ambitious ebbs and flows, and allows for active choice in where we put our efforts

• How expectations rely on assumptions that we can control uncertain outcomes

• How ambition, expectation, and effort show up and can derail you from meeting your goals

• Why it’s worth it to ask yourself what you can allow yourself to be bad at as you consider where to put your efforts

• How to notice where expectation may be showing up and if it’s a positive or negative force

• Four steps to bring more ease into your relationship to expectations

• How to give yourself a dose of reality when you’re setting goals and working with expectations

• How to approach external expectations and how they intersect with your ambitions and goals

Learn more about Wade Brill:

• Website

• Centered in the City

• Centered in the City Podcast

• Instagram: @OneWade

• Connect with Wade on LinkedIn

Resources Mentioned

• Sir John Whitmore's GROW Coaching Model Framework

• The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World, Dorie Clark

• 5. On Managing Overwhelm & Radical Self-Care with Wade Brill

• 68. Part 1: On Intentionally Living & Working with Pace

• 69. Part 2: On Intentionally Living & Working with Pace

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