We all have should(s) in our lives. I should be nice to my boss. I should lose five pounds. I should clean the house, and so on. Yet, should(s) never work, and do you know how come? Because a should is like a “have to”.

Should is perceived as a negative, and if you’ve followed me for any time you know I am all about positives. In the case of ‘should’, it feels negative, so shifting should to a positive statement is always better.

In order to turn our should(s) to wants., follow these basic mind-shift steps:

#1:Know what you don’t want. Usually you know this for some little or big nagging feeling you may have in your gut. Examples of this might be “I don’t want to overreact to this situation” or “I don’t want to keep gaining weight”.

#2: Know what you want. This usually is accompanied with a feeling of lightness and happiness.

• What I want, is a clean room.
• Do I believe I can have it?
• Can I visualize it?
• Will I feel better once I accomplish it?
• Will I be grateful?
• Do I have the ability to make it happen?

#3: Turn your want into an intention. This is one step away from making a definite commitment and propels your psyche to move forward.

• I intend to clean my room.

#4: In order to fully shift and take physical action (because thus far these statements have been psychologically futuristic in nature) you must place your intention into the present with an “I am” statement. Be careful here, for “I am” statements are divinely connected. You never want to make a negative “I am” statement, i.e. “I am stupid” for that’s not the truth about you.

• Shift from “I am a slob” to “I am cleaning my room”.

Of course, then, you need to follow through, take action, and clean up the room.

I challenge you this week to take one small area in your life, find

• the should(s)
• the don’t wants
• the wants
• your intentions
• your I am(s)

and see what happens.

Here is an example progression of thoughts from I should to I am:

#1: I should … lose five pounds
#2: I don’t want … to be unhealthy
#3: I want … to be healthy
#4: I intend … to lose five pounds
#5: I am … losing five pounds.

By changing the way you see, you will change the way you live. As a friend of mine used to say, “If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, then you’re going to keep getting what you’ve always gotten.” Take my challenge and let me know what happens!