You “need” to do this. You “need” to do that. Need. Need. Need.
I’ll bet lots of people reading this have made lists of things they NEEDED to do. I don’t know about you but needing to do something often leads me to procrastination, lack of commitment, and typically zero success.
Without going into too many personal details one word changed my perspective and my way of doing things when dealing with a huge frustration. One word.
And it wasn’t Therapy.
I’ll get to the word in a minute but let me ask you this………….
What’s something you’ve really “needed” to fix/overcome/change in your life? Something that really is holding you back and keeping you from doing great things, starting that biz, being a better spouse/partner/parent/friend/employee?
One day I woke up and was completely frustrated about the momentum (and bookings) of Best Conference Session Ever. I had a fun marketing idea for the event but I wasn’t following thru. You know…..life. Which really means excuses and distractions.
I love index cards. I do most of my life and business planning on index cards. And I read them. Often, Like daily. Sometimes I think I’m single-handedly keeping the index card industry in business.
So the word. One morning I was telling myself what I “needed” to do regarding that marketing idea and the inner voice in my head said MUST. Rich, you really MUST do this if you want to build that momentum.
I’m a cyclist. Several years ago I stopped going on short rides by myself and only doing group rides. Yet, those solo rides were my time to get inspired, ideate, and let thoughts flow. It was also ME time. I called it Bikestorming. Not to always ride in groups where it was about speed and performance and data. (Fitness apps, like other apps, really are sometimes toxic!)
MUST! I MUST go back to those rides. All of a sudden my brain shifted. But I also started thinking about what was really behind not riding alone. It was much deeper. I realized that there were things much bigger that needed to change. Just a couple examples. I had to (MUST) unsubscribe from some emails that were taking me into blackholes and just sucking time. I had to (MUST) remove several time-wasting apps from my phone. And some other waaaaay too personal stuff to share here.
MUST became my new word. My mantra when it came to the needing to do things in order to do bigger sh*t was MUST.
Using this example I needed to say to myself……………..”Rich, what MUST happen in order for that weekly solo ride to happen.”
I even started making Must Do lists.
I know, pretty simple. Right?
Not as simple as one might think. And I also know that some people might think MUST is a bit too rigid and may also set you up for failure. I get it. But if change and growth were simple we’d all be top performers at everything!
So here’s an idea…….next time you find yourself saying you need to do something try changing it to you MUST do something. And go deep and honest with yourself with why you must. What MUST happen in order for this to occur. It might hurt a little, but maybe………………………… just maybe, it’ll change your life, biz, relationship, finances, etc.