Another year is over and I guess it’s time for retrospection. As far as I’m concerned, the milestones of the year were obvious: A black guy became president of the United States of America and an unemployed housewife became a megastar. The rest of the year was, one might be forgiven for saying, incidental.

The beginning of the absolute end of any hope for white supremacy in the US was, if you remember, heralded in by Mr Obama’s keynote address to the democratic convention in 2004. If you heard the speech, you will definitely remember it. It was an electrifying moment. But here’s a curious thing: I just re-read the speech and seeing it on paper (on screen, really) in the cold light of day, it didn’t at all make the same impression on me as when I heard it delivered by this tall, slim, definitely foreign looking gentleman with the odd name (and we didn’t even know about the ‘Hussein’). There is no denying that he is a great orator, a man who can move a nation. When I heard Obama speak that July, it left no doubt in my mind that the man was heading for the top job.

Another defining moment, though of a rather different nature, was the Youtube morning we all watched Susan Boyle strut out in front of the cameras to sing ‘I dreamed a dream’ for the judges of Britain’s Got Talent (or whatever it’s called). This slightly dishevelled, frumpy hausfrau, complete with cat, who dared to dream she could sing like Elaine Page had heads shaking, eyes rolling and England expecting the most thunderous failure of the year. Then she opened her mouth and out came a sound that was at least a decade younger than her face, a voice rang out strong,  true and clear and told the world there was hope for everyone.

The question is: Where do you go from there? It’s like starting the evening with fireworks and slowly working your way down. By the end of the night the guests leave feeling strangely cheated, despite your best efforts. Mr. Obama’s approval ratings are at an all time low and how can it be otherwise, when after the fireworks he’s dishing out the hors d’oeuvres? The similarities with Ms. Boyle are uncanny! She’s effectively started her career with the performance of her life and no matter what she’s going to do, she can never repeat it. No other performance of hers is going to be able to inspire the stunned awe of that very first one.

So both the president and the singer suffer the same fate. They delivered too much too early, raised expectations they could never meet and thus were destined to disappoint. So remember as the year runs on: The less people expect of you, the easier it will be to pleasantly surprise them.