"Back to the Future" effect: the importance of expectations

The news and magazines have been filled these days about the fact that it has come from the day that set one of the most beloved films of the last decades: "Back to the Future II". In the movie, the protagonist traveled to October 21, 2015, and there (here) a whole vision of a future that in the end has little to resemble the one we really have. No flying cars, no time travel, no special skates… and they didn't predict about cell phones or tablets.

What were they thinking? Does this mean that in 2350 we will not be able to do space travel? Will televisions that give off odors never arrive? Not even Rappel can we trust!

The importance of expectations in our life

Humor aside, this cinephile introduction brings me to the topic I want to talk about in this article: The expectations. Expectations collect ideas, illusions, fears, predictions and hopes of what has not happened yet. We have expectations of the results that we will obtain in exams and jobs, of how a new job will go, how medical treatment will work or how that appointment will go. We have an idea of ​​how we want our life to be at age 50, where we want to retire from, where we would like to raise our children, etc.

What happens is that not always everything happens as we expect. Life comes full of surprises and what we thought was going to happen before remains a simple memory in our mind of what could have been. When what we expected is not fulfilled, feelings and experiences such as disappointment, frustration, anger or sadness may come.. Knowing how to adjust our expectations and face possible surprises and frustrations will help us in our day to day. But how to do it? How do we work on our thoughts of the future when we are saying that it can be totally unpredictable? Here are a few tips.

6 tips for managing expectations and frustration

1. Keep it real

Be aware of how far you can go. I do not want to deny reason to those who say that we can go where we want, but we have to be clear about the path that will lead us to our goals. I cannot publish a book if I do not dedicate my hours to write it and if I do not also train in writing techniques, for example. Setting goals that we can achieve will help us a lot to make better use of our work and to make it much more bearable.

2. Control and be aware of your options

Like many, I would like to have a mansion, but I am aware that in my situation and the money I have, it will surely never happen. It is not an act of resignation or discouragement, but of acceptance. To know where I am, where I come from, and where I can get with what I have and what I'm doing. It's about knowing what cards I have and knowing how to play them.

3. Tolerate frustration

Not everything will always turn out the way we want. There will always be something that is beyond our control and it is necessary to know how to deal with these situations. First control your mood and the way in which it has affected you, and then relativize and reflect on what you can do, the level of severity, change, threat, benefits and what is really a priority.

It may interest you: "Intolerance to frustration: 5 tricks and strategies to combat it"

4. Tolerate uncertainty

Following the previous point, accepting that there will always be something we cannot control or expect will alleviate many anxieties and discomfortr. This works especially in health and work contexts. Taking medical tests, waiting for results, going to job interviews… all of them are situations marked by enormous uncertainty. Manage nervousness and the worries that these events cause is essential to cope with the day to day.

5. Trust the specialists

People who are knowledgeable about a topic will be able to guide you better in topics that you do not know and thus adjust your expectations on any topic. With a psychologist, for example, you will be able to have a more realistic idea of ​​when you will be able to overcome that loss that has marked you so much, and you will achieve this better than if you search for that information yourself or make ideas based on other non-specialized sources of information.

6. Live in the present and learn from mistakes

What we really have is today, this moment when you are reading this. We will never know 100% what will happen in a few days or a few months, but that does not mean that what we work on daily leads us to a desired goal. Works day by day, be flexible, accept and combat changes and unforeseen events with all the elegance you can.

We invite you to know this compilation: "25 positive phrases to better focus the day to day"

Rethinking our future

Following these tips may give you the feeling that making movies about the future and science fiction does not have any make sense, but remember that films are still films, and for this the film directors are there to take them to cape. ¡Let's create our own movie day by day and enjoy filming!