Treat Others the Way You Want to be Treated With Zero Expectations
Treat others the way you want to be treated because it’s the right thing to do, not because you’re expecting anything in return.
You know “the golden rule,” right? Treat others the way you want to be treated. And I believe that is probably one of the most important “rules” for life. But lately, I’ve been thinking about how – as we are building these legacy lifestyles – it’s important to add a caveat to that. And it is, “treat everyone the way you want to be treated, with no expectations in return.” When you’re building your legacy lifestyle, this has a huge impact on what you are creating and how you will be seen to move through the world.
Honestly, I think that’s really the key. Oftentimes we go around treating others how we want to be treated, but we have expectations for something in return. Whether it be the way that person then treats us, or recognition and thanks, or even material reciprocation, we go into the situation and behave a certain way not because it’s the RIGHT thing to do, but because we have an expectation of getting something in return.
So, what happens when we DON’T get what we expect, or even anything in return? Well, most of us, me included, get upset and possibly angry. I know that there have been times where I had an expectation of some type, and when that expectation wasn’t met, I started to sabotage everything and even reached the point where I was ready to burn it all down.
I bet if you started doing this for a while, just treating others the way you’d like to be treated, but holding 0 expectations for anything in return, you’d discover that they started to treat you the way you want to be treated without even realizing it. Because that’s how these things work. You lead by example.
Now, let me be clear. I am NOT talking about allowing people to take advantage of you inside your life or your business. Those people need to go because they won’t ever see your value or change the way they treat you, but the majority of people out there aren’t looking to try to cheat you.
So, I’m challenging you to commit to treating others the way you want to be treated, but with 0 expectations. Think about where you can do that, whether it’s with your own body, whether it’s in your business and treating your clients better than they expect to be. In your spirituality, treating yourself in your faith and in the time that you dedicate to God or whoever it might be for you with the respect that it deserves so that you can truly get the most out of that area of your life.
Take a look at some experiences that are to happen in your life, whether it’s at home or in the gym or in your work or business. And just truly commit to letting go of expectations for a particular outcome from the people around you, and just treat them the way you want to be treated. Put that on. Commit to it. Commit to it, not for a day but commit to it for two weeks. Test it. Seriously give it a run. Stay strong. Remind yourself in certain situations when you’re around certain people that you are going to do whatever it takes to treat that person how you would want to be treated or better than you would expect to be treated yourself, with zero expectations for them to respond in any specific kind of way and just see what happens.
Two weeks, man, you can do it. Anyone can do anything for two weeks. And watch not only your life but your attitude about life really change. And then it gets even easier to release expectations and just show up inside your life and your business as someone who treats others better than expected, because it’s the right thing to do, and not because you expect anything in return.