Hi, I’m Samantha Leith, and I’m the queen of unrealistic expectations. Yes, that’s right, I arrived back in the country at sparrows fart this morning, that would be 6:25 AM, having been up for about 20 hours. And on the plane, because I didn’t get any sleep, I wrote long lists of everything I wanted to get done today. I know, doesn’t that sound so smart? And then I got home and guess what I did? None of them. Because it was completely unrealistic. Oh my God, I couldn’t… So I had to have a go at myself this afternoon, because it is seven o’ clock something and I’m about to go to bed. Hopefully that’ll get me back into whack. But I had to like, “Samantha, what were you thinking? You’ve been away for nearly five weeks and you write yourself to-do lists, when you touch down because of.”
And I’ll tell you why, because there’s a shitload of stuff to get done. I managed to unpack, I managed to do a load of washing, I managed to get my legs waxed. And had [Elladi’s 00:01:18] dad and stepmom over for dinner, so we could talk a bit about the trip, take away, see I outsourced that one. But didn’t get the rest of my to do list done. But why did I do it? I got myself worked into such a state on the plane. It truly was ridiculous. I felt guilt about stuff I didn’t get done while I was away. I felt shame about who I was as a person, because I hadn’t achieved everything I wanted by the end of 2019.
And we’re two and a half weeks into 2014, 2014, 2020, I am tired, 2020 and I’m already going, “Oh my God, there was this stuff you were meant to get done.” So I wrote a list on the plane of things I had to get done today. Bonkers, batshit, bananas, stupid. A, it’s a weekend. B, I just got off a plane. C, the world is not going to collapse if my to-do list… And let don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t just a little to-do list. There was a house to-do list, a personal to-do list, a business to-do list. So this afternoon, I gave myself a bit of a slap, a bit of a grump and I was a bit kind of, “Ooh Samantha. You’re letting yourself down already.” And then I gave myself a bit of a, “You know what kid? It’s actually okay. All you need to do today is, go from A to B ticking the boxes of staying awake, so you can get back into the proper sleep cycle, doing some washing, because man, that stuff piles was up when you’ve been away for a long time. And tomorrow’s a new day.”
So tomorrow will be another day where I take for… There might be couple of things on my to-do list that I want to get done, like getting my nails fixed. But apart from that, I’ll hit the ground running on Monday. And what the lesson has taught me this afternoon is, I do this all the time. I think I need a crown. And I don’t know if it’s something to be proud of, but I think I need a crown, that says queen of unrealistic expectations and I want to stop that. I really want to stop that people.
Yeah. So adios, don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t got everything you wanted to get done, done today or tomorrow or any other day. Ask yourself, are the things you’re telling yourself to get done realistic or unrealistic? Because if they’re unrealistic, you’re just going to keep setting yourself up for failure, time and time and time and time again. And it is not worth it. It’s really not. That dread, that drudgey, mucky feeling inside you, when you feel you’re letting yourself down, oh, it’s awful. I don’t wish it on anybody. So next time you write a to-do list. Cut it. Just cut it and try and ask yourself what really needs to get done. Time management exercises. What’s urgent? What’s important? Et cetera. I will go through all of those in another life. But yeah, especially on a weekend, give yourself a break. Happy Saturday guys. See you tomorrow and I’m home. Yay. Bye.