Modern Proverb

I used to keep an old Ziggy comic on the wall over my desk. It merely said, "Do a little more each day than people expect of you and soon they will expect a little more."

I saw that as a bit of positive advice; although not everyone I came across agreed with me. I figured it was a great reminder to strive to exceed others' expectations of me and they would soon come to appreciate my work ethic and, perhaps even my abilities, as being greater than they had originally thought.

A friend of mine - who tended to have a darker view of life than me - argued with me many times over the "true" meaning of that little comic. She insisted that it was meant to be a warning that people would take advantage of you and just keep asking more and more of you if you went over and above their original expectations.

I elected to keep the positive spin on it, though, and do my best to do a little more than people expected of me. While there have certainly been some people (perhaps ethically challenged) who have taken advantage of me through the years because of my attitude, I figure that it's really their problem - not mine. Overall, I believe my desire to do more than the minimum required by other people's expectations has made me into a better person.

I would rather have people expect much of me - even if it means I occasionally fall short of their expectations - than to expect little or nothing of me and watch me eventually sink to the level of just that.