Should You??

From the moment we develop awareness, rules guide us. We learn about standards, values, and expectations before we learn to talk. These elements become the list of ‘should’s in our life. They establish the base from which our life is guided but often they fail to make sense outside the environment in which they were originally established. Listen in as Leslie and Leslyn dissect what we ‘should’ do.

SHOW NOTES:

From the moment we develop awareness, rules guide us. We learn about standards, values, and expectations before we learn to talk. These elements become the list of ‘should’s in our life.

I should make my bed every morning

I should eat breakfast

I should finish my dinner

I should do my homework

I should be nice

Etc.

These should’s establish the base from which our life is guided and some of them are quite central to ‘who’ we are. The problem with should’s is that many of them fail to make sense outside of the environment in which they were originally established but we continue to hold on to them.

By the time we are adults in our own homes, raising children, working jobs, and trying to maintain our relationships – the list of ‘should’s’ is longer than the day is long. We are striving to meet demands and expectations which have piled up through the years, without questioning their validity for this period of our lives, this day, or this hour.

Of course, we all have responsibilities and obligations that are important to us and we want to accomplish them. However, instead of commanding yourself to do something because you SHOULD…. First examine where it is coming from.

Are you taking down the curtains and washing them because it is important to YOU? Or is it something your mother did because she lived on a dirt road and the windows were open all spring?

Are you making a casserole for your sick neighbor after work today because that’s what the other gals who are at-home moms did? Or because you want to help your friend?

Are you saying no to lunch with a friend because you ‘should’ stay home and get the laundry done?

What is YOUR motivation? What feels authentic to YOUR life? Which of these ‘should’s’ fit with YOUR values, goals, and motivation?

Leslie and Leslyn dissect the idea of shoulds and get you thinking about your day to day life with a free resource you can print to help clarify your motivation.