Have you ever thought something like, “I should quit smoking,” or “I should go to the gym,” or, “I should take better care of myself,” and then not changed a thing? Sure, we all have. Things stay the same and we feel bad about not making the changes we know we “should” make. We can create lasting change by turning shoulds into musts.

Create Lasting Change

The first time I went to Tony Robbin’s seminar, Unleash the Power Within, I was riveted. I learned so much, even though many of the concepts and teachings I already “knew” intuitively on some level. One such teaching was about “turning shoulds into musts.” The jest of it is that change doesn’t happen until something we know we “should” do becomes something we know we “must” do. To see a brief clip from Tony directly teaching about this, Turn Ordinary into Extraordinary

I reflected on what “shoulds” I had turned into “musts” up to that point in my life. One example of something that had become a must for me and my family was eating mostly healthy and organic foods. I had been learning how to cook and what foods were good to prepare, etc. at the time. The more I learned, the more I realized how important it was to feed my family and self the healthiest options possible. Meaning, if I were going to make a birthday cake, I was going to use organic sugar… things like that.

There were many other shoulds that had not become musts, however. I was not in the shape I wanted to be in. I had very little energy a lot of the time. I was not following my dreams or living as passionately as I wanted.

Then came Unleash the Power Within. I felt propelled to a new level and created new “musts” for myself. I have never looked back. One must for me was to have more energy and be in better shape. Without energy we can’t be passionate or reach our goals effectively. I joined a gym within days of getting back from the seminar and have never worked out less than 3 days a week since. In fact, I regularly enjoy working out 6 days- going because I want to! I literally look at the workout classes and plan my schedule around when I’m going to the gym! That would never have happened a few years ago. I would never have woken up at 5 am to exercise. What? No way! But something happened inside me- I connected enough emotionally to what I wanted and why, and realized that in this one area (health), this was now non-negotiable. This was no longer a “should.”

Now, to be fair, there are other areas in my life where I still have “shoulds” that I’m working on committing as “musts.” I would like to take more daily action career-wise. I feel I “should” be writing at least once a day instead of twice per week. I realize that until I connect enough dots emotionally to what I want and why, it will remain a “should.” As of today I am committing to write every single day. I am turning this “should” into a “must.”

Who is with me?

Who has at least one “should” they would like to change to a “must” right NOW? Let’s do this together. The challenge for this week rockstars is to change one should into a must. This can be as small as committing to look at yourself in the mirror once a day and smiling at yourself or saying “You Rock!” at yourself, or as big as making a health or work change. Let’s do this rockstars!