It's Not So Much The Doing As The Thinking

In honor of "Give Up Your Shoulds" Day, I thought it would be appropriate to give you a few practical ways to do that.

Step One:
Pick one or two or five of the following statements that you RIGHT NOW would complete in a way you don't like.

• When under pressure I....
• I often feel guilty about ....
• When _____ happens I stress out and feel like....
• My Achilles’ heel (greatest weakness) is....
• I am always trying to stop ______ from happening.
• When the unexpected happens I....
• I always try to....
• What drives most of my behavior is....
• I am afraid of....
• I seek my ______’s approval (always/mostly/usually/occasionally)
• My most frequent negative/uncomfortable emotion is feeling....
• I need to learn to....

Well done - that wasn't all that easy, was it? But it's okay. If you don't like the truth of these statements, let's now consider them false. That means...

Step Two:
Re-write the statements so that they reflect what you'd LIKE to be true.
For example:
My Achilles' heel is ... lack of motivation
to
My Achilles' heel is ... chocolate, which is OK because I've exercised and finished my work, and I deserve a small reward.

Now post your new statements where you can see them, and read them every day like affirmations.

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