There are so many things we want to do with our lives, so many bad habits we want to drop, and so many good ones we want to build. But more often than not, these changes we dream of remain exactly that: dreams.
But what if I told you there is one single line — a mantra, if you will — that you can hold on to when the motivation to achieve your goals begins to fade and it becomes impossibly heavy to finish the work you have set out to do?
A few years ago, I read a nonfiction book by James Clear titled “Atomic Habits.” It is a New York Times bestseller and sat on the shelves of nearly every bookstore I walked into for months. Probably because people everywhere want the same thing: to change their habits. The end result being to use those consistent habits to build the kind of better life they have always wanted.
Yet that book, with its trove of science-backed research and step-by-step strategies for building better habits and breaking “bad” ones, gave me something far more than a tool for self-improvement.
It gave me a single line — one I now use every day to remind myself how fortunate I am to do all the things I can do:
I get to.
In just about anything you need or want to do each day — especially the things that feel like a burden — try seeing the action as a privilege.
Instead of thinking that “I have to,” remember. You get to.
This simple line is a powerful reminder of the blessings we overlook simply because we’ve been capable of them for so long.
Like the things you can do with your hands — washing dishes, typing words, swimming a lap. They are not burdens. They are evidence that you have the energy, the limbs, and the ability to do them.
So these days, when I “have to” work on my fiction book after a long day, I remind myself: I get to work on my dream of becoming a published author.
If I sit down to write something for this blog, instead of seeing it as something that consumes my time, I tell myself I get to share something meaningful with someone who might need it.
And just like that, with a simple change in perspective, the benefits of remembering my privileges motivate me to appreciate them and use them while I’m still alive.
Do not take for granted the life and the things you can actually do with it while you are still able.
You don’t have to.
You get to.
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Earlier, I read this book entitled “Wellness” by Nathan Hill. It discusses, among other things, the topic of traditional marriage and its many flaws.
There’s a part in the book that argues humans aren’t fit for a lifetime of loyalty to only one person. It says:
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Many years ago, I was a child who was often labeled by adults as an “idealist.” I didn’t know what this meant, but from the context of how they spoke about real life, I thought they were describing me as the kind of person who looks at the bright side of life.
You see, that’s…
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