🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 190 | Curated Conversation | Expectation
September 2025
*Week 190: Curated Conversation: Expectation
Week 191: Mind Your Business: Expectation
Week 192: Manage Your Mind: Expectation
Week 193: What’s On My Mind: Expectation
Let’s sweep the brain…
Let’s Sweep the Brain
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In the MindSweep this week:
Curated Conversation with curated GIF’s & puns (for your entertainment).
Jamie’s Second Brain Corner: Links to references. Need a map? I’ve got you!
What’s I’m Reading - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Collaborations with Terri Hamilton (Thursday) & Shannon Giordano and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce
My face đź’ś and a link to schedule your free consultation.
From Sparks to Staying Power: Rethinking Expectation in Entrepreneurship.
A few years ago, I bought the most beautiful planner I’d ever seen. Thick paper, smooth tabs, monthly, weekly, and daily sections. It even had inspirational quotes in the margins. I convinced myself that this planner would change everything.
It wasn’t just a purchase. It was a promise.
Because in my head, this wasn’t going to be just a planner. No, this was going to turn me into the kind of person whose desk could be photographed for HGTV Magazine. A vision board queen. A Pinterest-worthy CEO. The kind of person who alphabetizes their spice rack for fun.
This planner was going to transform me into the version of myself who had it all together. Neat handwriting. Daily routines. Color-coded calendars. Perhaps even a houseplant that managed to stay alive.
Three weeks later, it was buried under a pile of unopened mail and coffee-stained Post-its.
It wasn’t really about the planner. It was about the expectation. “Maybe this will finally be the thing.” The belief that the next tool, offer, or system would turn everything around.
If you’re a creative entrepreneur, you’re not alone in having this feeling. It belongs to all of us.
We’ve all chased that same shiny promise.
The Internal Cycle: The Firework Idea Trap
Here’s what I see in almost every creative entrepreneur I’ve worked with. Honestly, it was my pattern too.
You don’t just get an idea. You get the firework idea.
It shows up like a sudden burst of brilliance: the vision, the launch plan, the Instagram reels, maybe even the book deal. It lights up your whole sky in an instant. You can see it so vividly that you’re already checking domain names, sketching out logos, redesigning your services, maybe even blowing up your whole business plan to make space for this new thing.
And it feels incredible. Because it is. Your brain is flooded with dopamine. Optimism is high.
Everything feels possible.
And then BOOM!
Fireworks aren’t designed to last forever.
When the glow fades, or when another firework explodes nearby, you assume the idea wasn’t really “the one” after all. Time to wait for the next big burst.
This isn’t about being flaky. It’s not about lacking follow-through. It’s about how your brain is wired: constantly seeking novelty, chasing dopamine, and falling in love with possibility.
The problem isn’t the ideas. Many of them are genuinely brilliant.
The problem is the expectation that a single firework will keep the sky lit forever.
The External Cycle of Expectation
For creative entrepreneurs, external expectations often show up like this:
Spark: A new system, course, or offer lights up the brain.
Immersion: We dive in with hyperfocus and optimism.
Reality: The shine fades when it requires consistency or doesn’t fit our brain.
Disappointment: Cue self-blame: “Why can’t I make this work?”
Repeat: A new shiny thing appears, and we start over.
But expectation doesn’t just come from outside. Sometimes it comes from our own brains.
And, oh boy, that’s where things get really interesting
The Neuroscience of Expectation
So why do ADHD brains get hooked so easily on expectation—whether from a shiny new planner or our own brilliant ideas? We’ll delve into that in Week 192, but for now, let’s gain an understanding as we build awareness.
Expectation feels so powerful for creative entrepreneurs because your brain is wired to light up in anticipation. That’s where the dopamine rush comes from, the thrill of imagining how the new planner, the new offer, or the new idea will finally change everything.
Anticipation is often more exciting than actually doing the work, which is why the shiny feels so irresistible.
But what really happens when reality doesn’t match the mental movie your brain has created? It feels like a letdown. The crash can be discouraging, even shame-inducing, especially when you tell yourself the problem is you. It isn’t. It’s your brain doing exactly what it’s designed to do — seeking novelty, chasing reward, and reacting strongly when expectations and outcomes don’t line up.
So what’s a creative entrepreneur to do?
Working With Expectation
Here is a 5-step guide to raising awareness of expectations as a creative Entrepreneur.
Name the Spark: When you feel yourself light up with a new tool or idea, pause and say: “This is an expectation at work. My brain is chasing dopamine.” Naming it creates distance.
Date Your Ideas: Instead of marrying a new idea on the first date, set a 30–60 day dating period. Explore, play, and prototype, but don’t blow up your whole business yet.
Try the Side Project Approach: Keep your main business steady while testing an idea as a side project. If it fizzles, no harm done. If it proves itself, integrate it later.
Ask the Integration Question: Instead of asking, “How can I rebuild everything around this idea?” ask: “How can this integrate into what I’m already doing?”
Recommit with Intention: When the dopamine wears off, don’t assume the idea is dead. Ask: “What would it look like to recommit from choice instead of infatuation?” Sometimes, a tweak, a pause, or persistence is what moves it into real growth.
The Planner and the Ideas on My Shelf
That planner still sits on my bookshelf, not because it worked, but because it taught me a valuable lesson: expectations are powerful, but unmanaged, they keep us chasing.
The same goes for all the half-finished ideas tucked away in our notebooks, voice memos, and Google Docs. Each one is like a sparkler that burns brightly for a moment, lighting up the night and making us believe the glow would last forever. But sparks fade.
And that’s not a failure, it’s the natural rhythm of our creative brains at work
What those abandoned pages really remind me of is this: excitement is natural, but it isn’t a forever fuel. If we expect it to carry us endlessly, we’ll keep leaping from one shiny thing to the next, exhausting ourselves in the pursuit of “the one.” But when we stop asking excitement to be the only driver, something essential shifts.
The shift is this: expectation says, “This one thing will fix everything.” Intention says, “This idea, this tool, this system might support me, but I’m the one who builds the business.” One relies on hope, the other on choice. One hands over your power, the other places it firmly back in your hands.
So the next time you feel the thrill of the shiny, whether from a promise outside you or a firework idea inside you; pause. Breathe. Smile at your beautiful brain for lighting up with possibility. Recognize it for the gift it is, and then choose: Will this be a quick spark that reminds me of my creativity, or does it deserve the commitment to become something more?
Because that choice, not the planner, not the course, not the idea itself, is where your power lives.
My questions for you this week :
What’s the most “this will change everything” tool or planner you’ve ever bought, and where is it now?
How do you tell the difference between a quick spark of inspiration and an idea worth committing to?
✨ The planner won’t save you. But you know what will? Learning to work with your brilliant, spark-hungry brain instead of against it.
Excitement is a gift, but it’s not a forever fuel. The power comes when you choose what to do next with it. If you’re ready to move from expectation to intention, let’s map your ideas, your rhythm, your process so that you can build a business you’re proud of.
Bring me your firework ideas, and I’ll help you figure out which ones deserve the long-term spotlight.🧠Your brain. Your business. Mapped.
👉 Book your free MindSweep Chat: www.chickbookcreative.com/mind-sweep
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
[X] What is Curated Conversations?
[X] Did someone say MindSweep MAP?!
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What I’m reading
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
The bestselling historical fiction novel from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves, perfect for readers of William Kent Kreuger and Lisa Wingate.
Find it where you browse for books.
Collaborations!
Join us NEXT Friday, September 5th, at the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce for this two-hour interactive business community experience.
We'll discuss ways to cultivate business through Sales, Marketing, and Communication methods that support relationship building, showing up authentically, and connecting deeper with colleagues and the people you serve.
9-11 am - Open discussion, community support, brainstorming ideas
Join me in meeting business owners in our community. You'll leave with new tools to help you make connections and build your business!
Free; Registration is required: REGISTRATION.
Mindful Connections
Connecting like-hearted entrepreneurs to build relationships, offering support, understanding their passions, and sharing their names in rooms of opportunity.
Join us Thursdays, 12-1 pm EST.
12:00 - Take 5—a guided meditation with Terri Hamilton of Positively Terri to ground your week with peace and focus.
12:05-1 pm Round-table Share
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