Have to or Get to: Your Important Choice.
Paul White's nationally distributed syndicated column, “Have to or Get to: Your Important Choice” is published in 22 publications across seven states. This includes the following newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News (MI), SFGate (CA), Seattle PI (WA), Connecticut Post (CT), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Huron Daily Tribune (MI), The Telegraph (IL), and more. In this week's article, Paul shares shares how over time he has anchored the “GET to” mindset firmly in his character foundation.
Every author has dreams, BIG dreams. I definitely fall into that grouping as I revisit the reason I wrote my book, you know, the “WHY” behind my effort. My BIG dream was that my book would bring positive change to the world. Knowing the only way I could accomplish the intended purpose of why I wrote “The Answer Discovery” was if people would 1) read it, and 2) take action putting the life lessons it contains to work in their own life. Lofty goal? Maybe, but I’m beginning to acquire stories of people doing things exactly as I had hoped they would. This helps prove that reading my book, and merging the life lessons it offers into the character that defines your life, provides a worthy return on investment that helps you be a part of the positive change in our world.
One story I’ll share began with an individual who reached out to me through social media with a private message. He lives in the same community that I do and informed me that he had missed my book-signing day at a local independent bookstore and wanted to see if I’d be willing to meet him some day to personalize a signed copy of my book. Truth? That’s like asking a five-year-old if they’d like some ice cream ☺! So, we met and had a wonderful conversation and I asked him if he’d let me know his thoughts on my book once he began to read it. Since that day, he has private messaged me how certain life lessons contained in specific chapters have been positively impacting his life. This is precisely what I had dreamed would happen. Here’s how it’s playing out.
He began reading the book right away and shared that he loved the “I made a difference to that one” Starfish story I refer to in the preface. He works in the medical field and needs to be reminded of the people his team HAS been able to help when facing challenges that are beyond modern medicines ability to change. The Starfish story provides the mental fuel needed to get up each day with a positive attitude that’s loaded with hope and encouragement. He also shared that he utilized the “replacing HAVE to with GET to” life lesson with his team. Previously, they had been utilizing “Daily Goals” in their morning huddle, and he’s made the switch to having the team share “What they GET to do today.” He shared with me a few days later that a member of their team corrected herself with “GET to” rather than “HAVE to” and wrote how amazing the transformation in mindset can be by simply changing one word. It’s opened up a new path for them to a team culture we would all want to be a part of. All due to just changing one word in our self-talk…AMAZING!
As an author, when two stories related to your book are near mirror images of each other, you know you’ve achieved success in inspiring an intended action. This occurred for me recently when I was informed that two people who had read my book began volunteering to help prepare and serve meals at the local homeless shelter. I had utilized the homeless shelter in our community as the setting for the first chapter in my book and included the actual address in hopes that any local person reading my book would look the address up and realize that it was indeed the homeless shelter I wrote about. The two people then made my dream a reality when they signed up to volunteer to help prepare and serve a meal there. They didn’t “HAVE to” do that, but they were curious enough to pursue the experience to amplify the benefits of having a “GET to” mentality.
Honestly, over time I’ve anchored the “GET to” mindset firmly in my character foundation. I did it with practice. I began to see any task I was facing as a privileged opportunity. It helped that I completely removed the word entitlement from any thought process I pondered. Entitlement offers absolutely no value in any area of a person’s life. NO VALUE! But viewing everything as a privileged opportunity can inspire you to take a mundane task and give it positive meaning in your life. Taking out the trash, washing dishes, doing laundry, and vacuuming could all be perceived as a privileged opportunity. I GET to pay taxes. That means I have the privileged opportunity of earning a living and having a job. I GET to have a mortgage which means I have the privilege of owning a home. Are you sensing a pattern here?
If you’re a student, you GET to take test (which is simply a measuring tool used to keep you moving in a positive direction). You GET to do homework (which helps you learn material you were previously unaware of). If your mind believes you HAVE to do homework you’ve immediately reduced your potential to efficiently learn, and made life harder on yourself. Who would do that?
Unfortunately, our society conditions us to most often use the HAVE to mentality. But you don’t HAVE to use the “HAVE to” mentality. You GET to use the “GET to” mentality whenever you want. Why not begin to use the “GET to” way of thinking right now? I offer actionable tools in my book “The Answer Discovery” and if you purchase it, you GET to read it. If you read it, you GET to focus on over 100 life lessons that can improve your life that you GET to immediately utilize. If you take action based on those life lessons, you GET to experience more joy and happiness in every area of your life. Order my book today and GET to the place your life has always been intended to go. Hey, I not only believe in my book…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!
Paul White is a guest columnist and author. Purchase his life-changing book “The Answer Discovery – How to Change the World by Helping Others…and Ourselves” at http://bit.ly/PaulWhiteAmazon. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.