In this short and sweet, five-minute (ish!) episode, we’re talking about the two words that can turn your day upside down. (For the better.)

Sometimes short lessons can make a huge impact, and this is the case here. Tune in to hear what these two words are and how they changed my world.

Listen now:

The full episode:

Hey hey! Happy Friday! I love Fridays. I actually love most days… total tangent… did you guys know what it’s possible to love MONDAYS? Like, there are people out there among us living this life. And I totally want in on it. So I’m working on my relationship with Mondays and we’re really making some progress. I’m proud of us.

But right now, it’s not Monday. It’s Friday and this is a brand new thing I’m doing, and I’m calling it Friday Five. It’s SUPER creative because one, it’s Friday, and two, I plan for this to be about a five-minute little bonus to end your week on. Now, I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like moving forward, but I’m going to be sprinking these little 5-minute episodes in here and there when I have something I REALLY want to talk to you about, but don’t think I need a half hour, or longer, to tell you about it.

So, on this very first Friday Five I want to tell you about two words that can turn your day upside down. In a good way. Are you ready? Let’s dive in.

We’re gonna start with a story. This is going back at least five or so years ago when I was still in the thick of the toddler years. And it was bedtime. Which, to be honest, was never my favorite time. I liked to romanticize about the cuteness and the snuggles and the bonding during story time, but mostly what stood out back then was a battle of the wills at everyone’s most tired and cranky time of day, and I just wanted everyone to be asleep. I also didn’t have thought work back then, and the idea of really anything we talk about here on Beyond Happy was pretty foreign. But somehow I stumbled upon two words that made a HUGE shift for me.

See, in this nightly bedtime routine, I remember tromping up the stairs one night and saying the words in my head, “Ugh. I have to get them to bed now.” (Can you hear the self-pity?) I have to. HAVE. TO. And for some reason that night, I stopped myself and thought about those words. I didn’t like how thinking them made me feel. It felt like a duty. An obligation. Something I was being forced to do. And these were my sweet little kids, and I’m their mom. And my thought was I HAVE TO? Yuck.

From somewhere in cognitive space or the spiritual realm, two new words came into my periphery. GET TO. You GET TO put these three to bed, I told myself. A few feeling washed over me as I said them. It felt like gratitude and blessing mixed with purpose and opportunity. And truly, everything changed.

The power of words is amazing to me. The subtleties that can lead to major shifts. These two words, GET TO? They’ve become my go-to’s in so many situations. When I find myself not wanting to do something. When I’ve committed and don’t want to anymore. When I’m working on something that’s really hard. Or not my favorite. When I have a responsibility that I’m blessed to have, but feel sorry for myself in the moment. When I feel overwhelmed. When I feel like my priorities out way out of alignment. When you need to make a decision about something, I GET TO is way more powerful than I HAVE to. I GET TO gives you your power back. It moves the perspective from poor me to wow, I’m thankful to get to do this. It also reminds us of the power of our choices.

From experience, I want you to try these two words on next time you hear yourself saying, “I HAVE TO… fill in the blank.” Tell yourself, No… I GET to. And see how it feels. It can literally turn your day, your evening, upside down.

I want to keep this short and sweet, as sometimes the most life-changing lessons are. If you’re listening in live or on another Friday, I just wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend, and if you’re listening on any other day, have the BEST day. You GET to, if you choose to. See you next week friends!

BH