The Ryan Leak Podcast - Expectations Detox

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

In this episode of The Ryan Leak Podcast, we’re doing a full Expectations Detox. Because let’s be honest—some of us are walking into work, home, and life expecting people to be simple, perfect, and just like us… and we’re constantly disappointed. Why? Because people are complicated. Quirky. Moody. Late. And wildly different.Ryan unpacks why the key to working with (and loving) complicated people isn’t lowering your standards—it’s resetting your expectations. From Target people vs. Walmart people, to snackers vs. nibblers, to that one coworker who’s always bringing the foolishness, this episode will help you stop being shocked by humanity and start preparing for it.If you’ve ever said, “I can’t believe they would…”—this one’s for you.🔥 Order Ryan’s new book, How to Work With Complicated People, releasing April 15, on Amazon today.📲 Want to stay encouraged every week? Text “Podcast” to 469-809-1201 to subscribe to Ryan's weekly encouraging text.

Welcome to the Ryan League podcast where we keep things short, sweet, and practical. This episode is officially released on Monday, April 14th, which means tomorrow I have a brand new book coming out called How to Work with Complicated People. And I would love for you to order your copy on Amazon. And it could be at your house within a day or two. Who knows? Maybe even same day if you got Amazon Prime. Today's episode is unpacking something that I talk about in my book. which is one of the primary strategies for working with people who have that gift of getting on your last nerve. I want to talk to you today about how you're going to be so much more effective in your life, in your job, with your relationships,

when you begin to adjust your expectations. Here's the truth. Most of us quietly expect two things from everybody, and we'd rarely expect. ever say it out loud. But we expect just about everybody to be simple and perfect. You'd never say that out loud, but our internal reactions slash frustrations often come from people missing the mark. Now, their job description doesn't say simple or perfect really anywhere. The wedding vowels don't typically include either of those words, but somehow when somebody falls short, it's usually from an internal expectation that our external relationships never even knew about.

And so what we actually get, instead of simple and perfect, is, well, complicated, imperfect, quirky, late, moody, difficult, dare I say, human. Unfortunately, your only options for bosses, coworkers, kids, neighbors, pastors, lovers, the only options you got are human ones. And humans, unfortunately, well, they come with complexity. I mean, wouldn't it be awesome if we could all go to perfectpeople.com and handpick flawless individuals to marry, to lead, to work with, to hire, start businesses with these people, live next to these people. But here's the problem.

well we wouldn't be on the website they wouldn't be able to pick us so what do we do instead i think we adjust our expectations stop being disappointed when you don't get sameness people are different wildly different and i'll prove it some people are one-word responders you got any friends like this. The one word responders? Fine. Good. Okay. That's the whole text. The one that drives me the most crazy is when someone responds with just, sure. Want to go on a date? Sure. Will you be in my birthday party? Sure. Listen, I get it. Some people just don't feel like texting you back, so they'll just hit you with the sure. Some people are the opposite, though. They are blog responders. You ask how their weekend was, and they send you 800 words, seven photos, three voice memos,

and a Spotify playlist, you're like, hey, I don't need all of that. Some people are in group chats, but don't ever respond. Don't judge them. They just got stuff to do, and they don't feel like respond. I get it. People are different. Some people are Walmart people. Low prices, rollbacks, everything in bulk.

I get it. Some people are target people. $50 for some toothpaste and throw pillows, and they'll get groceries and couches at the same time. they're different. You got Nike people, you got Adidas people, you got New Balance people, they're different. You got Coke people, Pepsi people, Dr. Pepper people, Coke Zero people, McDonald's Coke people, water people that would be upset if I mentioned a carbonated drink on a podcast.

You got fast food people. They need their Chick-fil-A in five minutes or less. Then you got slow food people. You go out with them, they want to be there for three hours. It's like, hey man, I got stuff to do. Some people are snack people. You know anybody like this? You ain't never seen them eat ever. But they always just nibbling. They just like squirrels all day. You like, did you eat today? Yeah, you had some almonds. You'd be like, what? You got indoorsy people, outdoorsy people.

You got some people's ideal vacation is leaving their kids and going to a beach with no schedule, no responsibility, just peace. Some people's dream is a staycation where grandma takes the kids and they do nothing in their own house. Some people's dream vacation is to take their kids with them. I'd be like, why are you taking your chaos to another city? But we're different. The reality is, is we just can't walk into the world

and expect the world to have our preferences, our pace and our personality. They're different. And that's okay. Stop being shocked. humans don't match your settings because they've got their own. So I'm going to encourage you to walk into dinners, meetings, zooms, classrooms, group chats, pTA meetings, family reunions, in-laws, houses, weddings, holiday gatherings,

airport security lines, staff huddles, boardrooms, road trips, Facebook comment sections, HOA meetings, fantasy football draft, small groups, teacher conference, maybe even your own kitchen on a Monday morning, and when you walk in there, I want you to be expecting complicated. Yeah, I want you to expect the quirks. I want you to expect tardiness, attitude, disorganization, oversharing, under-delivering. I want you to expect that weird comment in the meeting, expect someone to talk just to hear themselves, talk. Like, this isn't about lowering your standards. It's about having realistic standards and realistic expectations. People constantly tell me, I can't believe my coworker would throw me under the bus like that. I can't believe my friend

was an hour late again. I can't believe. My sibling still doesn't text me back. I can't believe. I can't believe. I can't believe. My response, believe these people. Absolutely. Believe them. Because people show us who they are all the time. We just don't want to accept the data. It's not on them. It's on us. So here's what I believe is going to help you with difficult and complicated people. Stop expecting people to change who aren't trying to. I'll say it one more time. Stop expecting people to change who aren't trying to. Here's what I've learned. People who are trying to change, they do two things. Number one, they actually believe they need to change. If your boss has anger issues, the question is, do they even believe that they have anger

issues? If your best friend never follows through on anything, do they believe it's a problem? You see, awareness is the first step, and many people aren't even on the staircase. Number two, people who try to change, they go out of their way to do so. If they believe they have anger issues, they find a therapist. If they're out of shape, they find a trainer. If they struggle with procrastination, they get an accountability partner. If they over promise and under-deliver, they stop promising and start planning. Now, here's the million-dollar question. Does the most difficult person in your life show either of those traits? Do they even think they need to change? Or are they actively working on it? If the answer is no, why are you

expecting them to be any different? My friend, stop expecting people to change who aren't You see, the beauty of this posture is it changes how you show up everywhere. Oh, you show up completely different. You show up to work Monday morning thinking, is it going to be you today, Sheila? Is it going to be you today? Are you the one that's going to bring the foolishness? Here's the deal. She was shockingly, it's chill.

You're like, all right, I see you, I see you, Sheila, that's cool. Tuesday, you walk into a meeting with Lucy. You brace for the eye roll, and all of a sudden she gives you nothing. She's somehow acting like a functional adult. You're like, this is amazing. Wednesday happens. Zoom call with your mobile. demanding client, you're ready for the chaos. But hey, they must have had their morning coffee

because they're shockingly pleasant. Then Thursday rolls around and Jamal tries to blame you for his mistake and in that moment you've got grace in your back pocket and you say, Jamal, I've been waiting for you all week. Why? Because you were expecting complicated. You see, now you're having fun. You're ready for it. You expected it. They didn't catch you slipping. Here's a deal. You already know who's difficult in your life, why would you let them catch you by surprise? Prepare now. This doesn't mean you just have low standards for humanity. No, no, no. You're not cynical. You're not bitter. You're just realistic. You're not lowering your standards. You're preparing for their humanity. Throughout the process of publishing my new book, I made some mistakes.

The team made some mistakes. There was one big mistake that in hindsight was rather small. In fact, it was so small, I can't even remember what the mistake was. But I do remember this. One person on the team said, are you mad that you have to delay the book launch again? I said, actually, I'm not mad. They said, why? I said, because I was expecting it. It doesn't mean we can't have a conversation about how we'll do better next time.

It doesn't mean that there's no accountability. It just means that conversation is about 100 times more. healthy because we left margin in our working relationships for delays, setbacks, missteps. And I just think that your life and work gets better when you have realistic expectations for the world around you. My friend, in my new book, How to Work with Complicated People, dropping tomorrow if you are listening to this on April 14th, Monday. It drops on April 15th. I dive deep into what I call an expectations detox. And it's a way to reset the unrealistic standards that we often place on people who have no intention of meeting them.

I promise it is going to transform the way that you lead, the way that you live, and the way that you love. You can grab your copy on Amazon today. My friends, thank you so much for listening to the Ryan League podcast. If today's episode added value to your life, do not keep it to yourself and share it with a friend. And hey, it would mean the world to me. If you'd take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe, leave a comment. If there's a topic that you'd like me to cover in the future, I would love to hear from you via text. I send on an encouraging text every single week to about 20,000 people. If you'd like to subscribe to those encouraging texts, you can text the word podcast

to the number 469-809-1-201. Your support helps us reach even more people with these short and sweet nuggets of inspiration. Thanks so much for being a part. of the journey and we will see you next.