Are Low Expectations The Key To Life?

The late investor Charlie Munger was known for his prolific wisdom.

Perhaps his wisest insight of all came when he was asked to reflect on the source of his own happiness:

“The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you’re going to be miserable your whole life.”

His words echo an old aphorism, which says that low expectations are the key to life.

My friend Morgan Housel once wrote:

“Actual circumstances don’t make much difference…What generates all the emotion is just how big the gap is between expectations and reality…Everyone, everywhere, doing almost any task, is just in pursuit of finding some space between expectations and reality.”

So, by definition, if you keep your expectations perpetually very low, you’ll always be happy.

Right? The science does seem to support this general idea...

•••

Mel Robbins called my first book "a powerful wake-up call that will push you to rethink everything about how you’re spending your time."

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Are Low Expectations The Key To Life?

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