Piles of Should

Feb 04, 2025

Should. ⚠️

Big steaming piles of it. 💩

You don't want to should yourself. ❌

Don't want to should the yard. 🚫

Don't want to should the bed. 🛑

Definitely don't want to should your pants. 😬

And yet...a lot of us do, all the time.

Here are three kinds of shoulds to look out for... 👀

Sometimes we should ourselves out of expectation or obligation. 🤷

Instead of living our lives according to what we want, we outsource the agenda to others.

"I WANT to go pursue my dream, but I really should just keep doing this job that's crushing my soul until I turn 107 and then I'll die." 💭

And even if the intent behind the "should" is a worthy one (taking care of others, being healthier, etc.) – "should" just weakens it. ❗

Shoulds give us an excuse to be a little wishy-washy about whether we're going to actually do that thing, or not. 🌀

Instead of saying, "I will go workout" and then going to work out, sometimes we say "I should go workout" and then we don’t. 🔁

One of our favorite things to do is to pair "should" with "but." 💡

"I should take out the trash, but....." 🗑️

Should gives us an out. ❌

Shoulds are stinky because they also carry an element of judgment. 🤢

When I do something or don't do something...that's kind of neutral – there's no moral failing there. ⚖️

On the other hand, when I SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do something – well, now we're talking ETHICS. 🚨

Maybe if I don't do something I "should" it means I'm a "bad" person.

Instead of shoveling should all day, consider replacing the shoulds with words like want, choose, or power.

"I want to go to the gym."

"I choose to not work here anymore."

"I have the power to send this email."

No more shoulds.

How can you make sure you don't step in ANY big piles of should this week? 💭🔥 Eric

🚀 Let's get your career stuff handled, find time to talk here. 📲