Here are some common expectations to dispell:
* Unless it is in writing and legally binding nobody owns you anything. This is deeper than it sounds and many people struggle with this in a very infantile way.
* Don't be a freeloader. Don't expect people to give you assistance. Assistance is wonderful when you need it, but if you are dependent upon assistance people will come to think of you as a disease.
* Don't wait for somebody to tell when you when to start. Waiting is a waste. Just go. If you are wrong about something you can correct for it later.
* Don't expect all of life's problems to be solved by social structures. I have spoken with teenagers who expect to get into a good school or expect to have the most wonderful job once they graduate. Imposing false promises upon yourself results in more disappointment than action. If you want a wonderful job then start by working your ass off to be wonderful at your job.
* Don't expect somebody else to do your job for you, which includes tools and frameworks. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to solve a problem. Reliance on helpers to do your job for you is great until they can't solve a given problem then your fucked. Even worse is when that tool is no longer available, which is worse because the result is defensive behavior that nobody wants to associate with.
* Be goal oriented. If you know what you are striving for you can backwards plan the steps necessary to accomplish it. If you manage a team write those goals down and expose them to your team so that the team moves towards the goal as a collected unit.
* Understand the nature of vanity. Vanity is necessary to set positive impressions and satisfy customer experience. Beyond that vanity carries a diminishing return over time with an inversely proportional cost.
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