Are Unspoken Expectations Sabotaging Your Relationships?

Here’s How to Clear the Air!

Gholamreza Zare
5 min readApr 3, 2024

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Missed expectations — the universal recipe for disappointment with a side dish of resentment, garnished with a sprig of “I can’t believe you’ve done this.” Let’s dive into the heart of every workplace drama and personal tiff, shall we? Picture this: you’re locked in a duel of wits, armed with nothing but your undeniable righteousness. The other person? Clearly, the villain in this narrative is skulking in the shadows of wrongness. But let’s take a step back and sift through the ashes of conflict for a moment. Could it be that this blazing inferno was sparked by nothing more than unspoken expectations?

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

I’ve walked this path more times than I care to admit. There was that one time I expected a colleague to understand the unspoken rule of punctuality for our project deadlines. Every late submission from them was a match struck against the flint of my patience, igniting the bonfire of my frustration. But had I communicated my expectations? Nope. In my mind, it was as clear as day, as evident as the discomfort of sitting on a cactus. But in reality, it was as invisible as the air we breathe.

This silent assassin of collaboration and harmony lurks in the shadows of our professional and personal lives, often masquerading as righteous indignation. We lug…

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Gholamreza Zare

Tech enthusiast & writer on a journey of self-improvement and software engineering. Reach me at ghrzarea@gmail.com. Explore more: https://amazon.com/author/zare