5. Acknowledging Limited Capacity

I’ll admit, most days I fail to impress myself. In fact, more often than not, I disappoint myself. The reason is that I rarely accomplish all I want to accomplish in a day. I budget completing a certain number of tasks per day, however seldom do I manage to follow through with all commitments. These tasks can range from a simple language study to vocal trainings, drawing to personal projects. Planning for them is easy. Following through is not.

I pondered over why this is the case. I've come to acknowledge something about myself: I often think of myself better than I truly am. In other words, when I evaluate my capacity to do things, I often upscale my ability and proficiency higher than it actually is. Because of this, I schedule a lot in my day, thinking I can accomplish all of them. I exaggerate the power of my will and discipline. However, I've come to realize how little I can do in a day.

Human tendencies are prideful in nature. Think about how many times we disappoint ourselves. We are disappointed because we expected more of ourselves, and we expected more of ourselves because we believed that we were fully capable and proficient. Now, it's not wrong to push yourself and expect more. Actually, engaging in self improvement is a wonderful thing. However, when witnessing the gap between our current capacity and our expected capacity we often respond with guilt and despair. The unfortunate thing about guilt and despair is that they are terrible motivators for true change. They lead to self-pity or cynicism.

I've found that setting reasonable daily expectations significantly improves my personal happiness and reduces guilt and despair. I often overestimate what I can accomplish in one day, however underestimate what I can accomplish over many days. Proper goal setting isn't just about aiming as high as possible. It's about self leadership. A good leader will set manageable expectations.

When leading yourself into your desired future, it’s beneficial to be mindful of your limited capacity. Acknowledging that you have a limited pool of energy will not only force you to set reasonable daily goals but to prioritize how you allocate your energy. My advice is first discerning what is most important to you, then prioritizing your daily goals to make sure you're addressing the important things first. For example, allocating your energy and time maximally between family, work, leisure, relationships, personal endeavours, health, financial progression can burn you out very quickly. It's wiser to decide which aspects of your life take precedence and allocate your energy and time accordingly.

It's definitely possible to invest in all these aspects and more: however in the case where your energy fails, which ones takes priority? Imagine you're a machine with various parts. If the battery suddenly throttled in its energy output, which circuits would you shut down? Probably the less necessary tasks like your screen brightness or accessory features. What are your less necessary tasks and accessory features?

In short, good self leadership reflects an accurate self awareness of our own limited capacity and sets prioritized goals accordingly.