A favorite quote of mine comes from motivational speaker Les Brown.  It is ” No one rises to low expectations”.  I interpret this to mean strong performance requires motivation and the setting of clear and challenging expectations can be motivational.

Be careful though, set too high and the result could be  despair or frustration so a careful balance is needed.  If you are seeking to help yourself or others excel the right level of expectation is critical.

Yours or Someone elses

Self expectation is the most powerful motivator.  This can come wholly from within or be influenced by others, for example a leader or manager.

What ever the source, ultimately only you can set your personal expectation bar.  External factors, for example  competitive drivers, can assist you in setting your expectation bar high enough that you need to stretch to it.

Whatever the source of expectations you have a personal accountability to ensure they are something you can rise to, that is making sure they are challenging.

The harder it is, the better you feel

Although it might not seem intuitive, achieving a challenging objective increases your happiness proportional to the difficulty.  The harder it is the more satisfying the accomplishment.

Not only do you owe it to those around you to strive for high achievement you owe it to yourself, and you will feel better for it.

For leaders, understanding this principle can be very helpful as you create environments where everyone can excel, continuously.   The expectation bar should only be reached in time for setting of the next level.