Lower-the-Bar Resilience
Assume imperfection, give full effort, and treat positive outcomes as upside
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
McFarlane deliberately separates effort from expectation. His daily baseline is that the day will not be perfect, and his job-interview example says to try as hard as possible while assuming the offer will not come. A rejection then confirms the baseline instead of crushing the person, while an offer becomes positive surprise. The same result can feel successful or disappointing depending on the expected bar, as his retail-order and golf examples illustrate. This is not a method for doing less. The checklist preserves full effort and lowers only the assumed outcome. Its mechanism is emotional: normalize friction and rejection in advance, take responsibility for your own actions, and reserve delight for occasions when reality exceeds the modest baseline.
Origin
McFarlane describes the low-expectation practice he uses to handle daily friction, rejection, retail outcomes, and poor golf scores.
Core principles
- 01Effort can stay high while outcome expectations stay low
- 02Imperfection is a normal daily condition rather than a personal surprise
- 03Only the individual is responsible for making their own life better
- 04Unexpected success feels like upside instead of an entitlement fulfilled
How to run it
- 1
Normalize imperfection
Begin with the assumption that the day, other people, and uncertain attempts will contain flaws.
Pro tip Use McFarlane's baseline: today will not be perfect.
Watch out Do not turn realistic imperfection into blanket cynicism.
- 2
Lower the expected outcome
Before an uncertain attempt, accept that the desired result may not happen.
Watch out Lower the expectation, not the preparation.
- 3
Give full effort
Prepare and perform as strongly as possible despite the modest expected result.
Pro tip Let the baseline protect emotion without reducing action.
- 4
Absorb the no
When rejection arrives, treat it as a normal predicted outcome rather than evidence that the attempt was intolerable.
Watch out Still extract useful feedback when it is available.
- 5
Enjoy the upside
When the result exceeds the low baseline, recognize it as a genuinely good outcome.
In the wild
McFarlane imagines a person giving every interview their best while assuming they will not be hired. Twenty rejections become survivable predicted outcomes. When the twenty-first employer offers the job, the result breaks the streak as welcome upside.
→ Repeated rejection becomes emotionally sustainable without reducing effort.
McFarlane celebrates scoring six on a par five because he rarely practices and expects poor play. Another golfer gets the same score and breaks a club because his expected bar was higher.
→ Identical performance produces different emotional results because of different expectations.
Common mistakes
Lowering effort with the bar
The method explicitly pairs a low expected outcome with giving the attempt your best.
Expecting others to perfect the day
Relying on strangers or colleagues to make every interaction accommodating creates repeated disappointment.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for repeated uncertain attempts where rejection and inconvenience are normal.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when low expectations become an excuse for weak preparation or avoidable underperformance.
From the transcript
“Today will not be perfect.”
“Lower the bar. Go to your job interview, and before you walk in, give it your damnedest, but assume you're not getting the job.”
“Assume today's not going to be perfect and assume human beings are flawed, and you will have a pretty good life.”
From the episode
#643: Todd McFarlane, Iconic Comic Book Artist — Lessons from Stan Lee, How to Make Art that Outlives You, How to Compete with Corporate Giants and Win (While Having Fun), Dealmaking Strategies, War Stories from Wall Street and Lawyer Land, Taking Responsibility for Your Life, and Why Creators Need to Smash Limits
Stan Lee