I Would If…
So today we’re going to pull out all of our “I can’t” statements from yesterday and rewrite them by substituting “I would… if …” Then we’re going to go several steps further by continuing with our statements until we loop back to the beginning or we know we’ve come to the end.
Here are a couple of examples:
I can’t lose weight because I love to eat too much.
- I would lose weight if I didn’t love to eat too much.
- I wouldn’t love to eat too much if I felt more satisfied with myself.
- I would feel more satisfied with myself if I had more physical affection coming my way.
- I would have more physical affection in my life if I had a love relationship.
- I would have a love relationship if I wasn’t embarrassed by how I look.
- I wouldn’t be so embarrassed by how I look if I could lose weight.
Hmmm… it’s a catch 22… that was interesting and unexpected. I’m not quite sure what to do with it at this point, so I’m just going to leave it and go on to the next statement:
I can’t fix my plumbing because I don’t know how.
- I would fix my plumbing if I knew how.
- I would know how to fix my plumbing if I was a plumber.
- If I was a plumber I would fix my plumbing, but I’m not a plumber… so now what?
- I could fix my plumbing if I hired a plumber…
- So why don’t I?
- Alternatively, I could fix my plumbing if I became a plumber!
Again, interesting…
Continue with your “I can’t” statements from yesterday until you’ve completed them all, or until the exercise becomes boring. As you work through them, you might begin to see a pattern or a recurring theme.
As always, it will be much more effective and illuminating if you actually put pen to paper and write it down. I had a number of insights when I was working on this post… and those insights did not come when I was imagining and planning this exercise. They came when I was actually writing it all down.
8 Responses to I Would If…
Leave a Reply to shirleytwofeathers Cancel reply
- Radical Self Care Project Overview by shirleytwofeathers - No Comment
- Radical Self Care Image Gallery by shirleytwofeathers - No Comment
- It’s A Wrap by shirleytwofeathers - 3 Comments
- Something To Consider by shirleytwofeathers - 1 Comment
- Nurturing Your Precious Self by shirleytwofeathers - 3 Comments
- me: Make Your Own Violet Fire
- Abdulrahman: Money Chant – Very Fast
- Shirley Twofeathers: It’s A Wrap
- Daniel Knirs: It’s A Wrap
- Shirley Twofeathers: It’s A Wrap
I would … if …
I would … enlarge my yard … if … it didn’t sound so hard and tiring.
It wouldn’t be … hard and tiring … if … I had help and plenty of time to do it.
I would … have help … and plenty of time to do it … if … I started on a Sunday morning and got James to help me.
I would … start on a Sunday with help from James … if … I was actually excited to do it.
I would … be excited to actually do it .. if … I wasn’t obsessing over my website… if … I wasn’t afraid that it would be a horrible ordeal … if … I didn’t have to work a regular job …
And the above applies to just about 3/4 of the stuff on my prosperity list…
Those things seem way too big, too long, too intimidating, too hard, and too tiresome. I think I need to break them down into tiny little tasks… or I need to come up with the money and the courage to hire some one else to do all the work.
I would if I wanted to… that’s the real truth!
I would do. Blank if I did not think it was so pointless……..I m going to die
Wow… that’s dark, Daniel.
Try this one… I wouldn’t think it was so pointless if…. I wasn’t going to die for … 2 more years…
On a lighter note, this exercise reminds me of a time in a class at Avila when we did Simon Sinek’s “5 Why’s” exercise and somehow the logical conclusion that I reached by doing the exercise was that my problem (being late to work that morning) was a direct result of my having cooked dinner for my husband and myself the night before (the answer to the 5th “Why”). So silly. And yet, it was true. Sometimes the Why’s and how we loop the reasoning all back around on itself is just so funny and warped and all you can do is laugh at yourself and at life. : )
I love it Melissa… and it’s true 🙂
All of mine turned into a a never ending cycle that results in we need a car so James can get a good job with insurance so we can have more money, but we can’t get a car because we don’t have the money to buy one or enough money to save for one.
Hi Saskia – So all of your issues revolve around “no money” … It reminds me of the old saying that money can’t buy happiness…. which I think is untrue. Money can buy happiness … and if someone gave you enough of it, I bet you’d be able to prove it’s true. So, well, we already talked about some ideas for making money, if they pan out that will be awesome!