You know that list of ‘should have’ you have mentally going around in your head?

• I should eat healthier
• I should exercise more
• I should stop drinking in the evenings
• I should read more
• I should be more patient with my children
• I should send thank you notes
• I should ….
• I should ….

I’m sure you can fill in the rest and write more should haves, just like I can. I have a list of ‘should have’ that some days feel like a mile long. Having this constant loop playing in my head is tiring and lets face it, takes up  mental space that can be used else where.

Some times it can be easy to let the list overwhelm us and we give up and say the opposite and begin saying who cares if I eat healthier or exercise more? We can fall into the trap of saying ‘if I’m happy, does it matter if I have another glass of wine in the evening or spend a few more hours scrolling through the internet instead of opening a book to read?’.

Here are 3 tips to stop settling for less and start eliminating things from your ‘should have’ list and let them start becoming part of your every day life.

1. Pick ONE item from your list that feels the more important.
2. Ask yourself and answer honestly: Will you be more happy if you (fill in the blank with your item) Will you feel better about yourself if you (fill in the blank with your item)?
3. Do you still want to be dealing with this ‘should have’ a month from now/a year from now/10 years from now?

Once you have your answer, be honest with yourself and make a commitment that you can actually follow through on. If you want to start exercising every single day, don’t set up a goal to work out every single day from the beginning. Start with at least one 20 minute session, on Wednesday, and put it in your calendar. And commit yourself to it, like you would commit to your best friend’s birthday party. You’ll be there on Wednesday, no matter what. Once you feel like you have a handle on that 20 minute session, add another day. Give yourself a reasonable timeline to start increasing your workouts so that when the 6 month/year/two year mark comes around, you have reached your goal of working out every single day and it has become part of your every day routine. You don’t even think about it any more.

It is no longer on your ‘should have’ list, but now a part of you.

Download the Live Your Desired Life workbook and learn the 4 easy steps on how I started to live the life I always dreamed of that you can start implementing immediately.