UPOD: Under-Promise, Over-Deliver. It’s a key idea in the business world, as well as with your finances, to set expectations and then outperform your promise. If you tell your customers or clients that something is going to take a week to complete, but then deliver it in a few days, you will rise in their estimation. The key with UPOD is that expectations drive success.
 
When we have fixed beliefs or unrealistic expectations of how our money should be growing, we are prone to impulsive and unwise decision-making.
 
Our expectation with our finances should be that there will be market corrections or financial setbacks almost every year. Why? Because there are. Knowing this can reduce anxiety and keep us from selling our investments at the wrong time or abandoning our business because of a bad quarter.
 
When we recognize the long history of the markets delivering excellent returns, despite many negative years, we can relax and see any downturn as normal economic behavior.
 
If we learn to expect periodic downturns in our portfolios every year (the under-promise idea), we’ll be less likely to lose faith and sell our investments at the wrong time. If we also learn to expect the market to rebound (as it always does), then we experience the "over-deliver" idea. 
 
Managing our expectations is something we have control over, and I see this practice as a key ingredient to financial success and ease.