🧠 Weekly MindSweep No. 193 | What’s On My Mind | 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 (First Friday)
My face 💜 and a link to schedule your free consultation.
From Prediction to Presence: Choosing Reality Over the Story
Because we’ve spent weeks unpacking our topic of expectation together, I’ve started to see my brain stories for what they are: predictions, not reality.
That awareness has been a powerful reminder that predictions can create conscious and unconscious expectations. I can pause to recognize that my brain is just doing what brains do: filling the gap before the moment arrives. And with that recognition, I can make a choice: either keep carrying the story or set it down.
So I decided to try something new.
I took this awareness to another networking event. Instead of running the usual internal script from last time (Who should I talk to? Will this be worth it? What if I leave disappointed?) I consciously chose to drop the story before I even opened the door.
I told myself, ‘This is just a networking lunch.’ Let’s see what’s actually here.
And everything felt lighter.
The Event That Went Differently
The minute I walked in, I noticed how different it felt to carry no script at all.
I wasn’t rehearsing introductions in my head. I wasn’t bracing for disappointment. I wasn’t checking every conversation against some invisible measure of “success.”
I was incredibly present, deeply curious, and more open to the experience.
The conversations that unfolded surprised me, not because they were extraordinary in a cinematic way, but because they were real. I connected with someone I didn’t expect to meet. I heard a perspective that shifted how I think about a project that I’m working on. And I had a simple, enjoyable exchange that reminded me why connection matters even when it doesn’t lead to a next step.
The biggest difference was inside me.
I wasn’t carrying the weight of how it “could’ve, should’ve, would’ve gone.” I wasn’t judging every moment against the movie in my head.
And I left energized instead of drained.
A Month of Expectation
That event felt like the embodiment of what we’ve been exploring this month:
Week 190 | Curated Conversation — We started with the Planner That Was Supposed to Save Me. A story about how expectation sneaks in disguised as a fresh notebook, a shiny system, or the “thing” that’s finally going to make us into the version of ourselves we think we should be. Spoiler alert: the planner ended up under a pile of mail. Expectation is a story we tell ourselves about transformation, and sometimes that’s useful; often, it’s distracting.
Week 191 | Mind Your Business — Next, we looked at the Expectation Gap. When “this will change everything” doesn’t. We discussed how entrepreneurs pour their heart and time into launches, programs, and ideas, only to feel crushed when the world doesn’t respond the way they had imagined. Expectation isn’t the enemy, but the gap between fantasy and reality can wreak havoc on your energy and momentum.
Week 192 | Manage Your Mind — Then, we dove into the neuroscience. Expectation isn’t the thief of joy; it’s your brain telling stories. Our brains love to predict, filling in gaps before the moment arrives. That’s why we get hyped for events, anxious before meetings, or devastated when reality doesn’t match the reel in our head. Our takeaway: Recognize the prediction, then meet reality with presence.
And now, in Week 193: What’s On My Mind, I got to live the shift: This time I walked into an event with no script, no gap, just presence.
What I Learned:
Expectation is just a story.
It’s your brain’s attempt at safety, certainty, or control.
It’s not reality. It’s a draft.
And you don’t have to publish it.
Awareness gives you back your power.
When you notice the story, you don’t have to live inside it.
Awareness creates clarity.
Clarity unlocks choice.
You are responsible for your response.
Reality rarely aligns perfectly with the movie in our minds.
How you react, that’s yours to own.
Curiosity, presence, and aligned action are always available.
This practice doesn’t just apply to the stories we tell ourselves. It also applies to the external ones: the weight of what others think we “should” be or do.
When we notice those expectations, we can pause and ask: Does this align with my values? With the kind of relationships that I want to build? With how I want to live and work?
And then, we get to choose.
At the event, I wasn’t measuring myself against how others worked the room. I wasn’t chasing an external standard of “success.”
I was simply choosing presence over performance.
Living in Surprise and Delight
What excites me most about this shift is what it makes possible: surprise.
When I intercept the story, I make room for moments I couldn’t have predicted. My experience of unexpected kindness, the spark of an idea, and the conversation that goes somewhere new all become opportunities for me.
Expectation is tidy and predictable. But real life is messy, and where the gifts live.
The joy, the connection, the unexpected wins are often waiting just beyond the edges of the story.
Here’s what I’ll carry forward from this month on expectation:
1. Awareness is the Doorway - Our brains will always tell stories. That’s what they’re wired to do. The shift begins with noticing the gap: this is just my brain predicting, not reality.
2. Choice is the Power - Awareness creates space. Choice fills it. We get to decide whether to carry the story, edit it, or leave it behind. That decision changes how we show up and what outcomes we walk away with.
3. Presence is the Gift - When we drop the script, we step into the surprise and delight of what’s real. Success stops being a future promise and starts being defined in the present moment.
From Story to Presence
Expectation is human, and it will always show up. It’s our brain’s way of preparing us for what’s next. But it doesn’t have to run the show. And, you don’t have to confuse the story with your self-worth. The launch that flops, the event that bores, the relationship that disappoints; none of these are verdicts on your value.
They’re simply moments in motion.
When we step into an experience with awareness and choose to set the story down, we find something even better than prediction: presence. And when you set down the script, you open your hands to what’s actually here. The gift, the possibility, the next step.
Presence brings the gift of noticing what’s actually happening, which is often richer, more meaningful, and more surprising than the movie in our heads. That’s where entrepreneurship and life get good, not in the perfect execution of a plan, but in the messy, surprising, utterly human reality of what unfolds.
So I’ll leave you with this:
What could your life and business look like if you intercepted the story before it took over and gave yourself permission to live in the surprise and delight of the present moment?
Drop the story. Be present. Choose aligned action.
Because you’re not here to live out someone else’s script.
You’re here to write your own.
My questions for you this week :
What’s one area of your business where you’d like to replace expectation with curiosity?
Looking back on this month, what’s the biggest shift in how you relate to your own expectations?
Reply and share with me!
✨ Ready to stop letting expectation run the show?
If you’ve noticed your own brain stories and want support turning that awareness into aligned action, this is exactly the work we do together.
Through my MindSweep Mapping Sessions, I help ADHD and creative entrepreneurs untangle the noise, drop the scripts that drain their energy, and build clear, aligned next steps that actually feel good to follow through on.
Because your business doesn’t need another “should.” It needs your presence, your process, and your path forward.
🧠 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?!
MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
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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, October 3rd, 2025 from 9am-11am.
For October Shannon and I will welcome Nira Mahesh of Illuminira Consulting LLC for a presentation on:
Demystifying AI: How to conquer your fears and leverage it for real-life.
This presentation will give you practical guidance on what AI is, and how to responsibly use it for any workflow.
Nira will show you how to save time, make better decisions, and improve your communication skills, regardless of your business type or size.
After this pre-Halloween session, you will not be afraid of AI!
Join us for this engaging presentation in community with other business owners. 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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The gifts you bring to the world
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