But, do you love it? The dreaded “have to”!

There is a popular saying, “the only thing you have to do is die and pay taxes.”

I say the only thing you have to do is die.

What a morbid way to start a post, right? My point is you really don’t have to pay your taxes, but you may not like the consequences of not paying them. It’s a choice. You pay your taxes because you don’t like the consequences. And some people know the loopholes for not paying taxes, but that’s a post for someone else’s blog.

My point is when you say, “I have to…” the reality is you have chosen to do something because you didn’t like the consequences of not doing it.

So do you have to do laundry? No. You can throw away the dirty clothes and buy new; or wear dirty clothes. But, for most of us the consequences of not doing laundry outweighs the “chore” of doing laundry, so we do our laundry. So you choose to do the laundry, right?

However we say, “I have to do laundry.” We’ve gotten so used to saying “have to” for things that really are choices, that we start to believe that we have no choice.

Maybe we don’t really want to do something, but, “have to” and “want to” are two different things. And every time you say “I have to…” you steal your power.

Yes. You steal your power by saying “have to.” Saying “have to” means you are powerless to choose. Which is nonsense. You do have the power to choose.

Subconsciously you are weighing the consequences of your choices and so you make a decision. But, you’ve made that decision so many times in the past that it’s now a habit and now you feel like you have no choice. Now “choose to” has become “have to.”

What’s the big deal?

For one, you feel more in control of your life if you are honest with yourself and know that you have choices. The more you say, “have to” the more you start believing it, and the more you feel powerless. Knowing that you have instead made a choice, gives you back your power to choose.

More importantly you may be choosing to do things now that are no longer serving you. You do them just because you always have. And over the years, you have told yourself “I have to,” and now you believe that to be true. Is it true? Do you really have to? What are you doing now just out of habit?

Take your power back!

Pay attention to your words.

Anytime you say, “I have to” ask yourself do you really “have to” or do you “choose to” because you don’t like the consequences?

Knowing you have the freedom to choose is subtle but very powerful!