Give up your "musts"

Haven't made a New Year's Resolution? That's understandable. Many folks only feel pressured by them. It can be awfully depressing when you fail after deciding that you must do something.

But without musts, how will we ever change or improve? We think musts must be good, but when we ask questions of folks, this is what we learn about musts:

1. They lead to black and white thinking
2. They set people up for failure
3. They add pressure to an already pressured life
4. They lead to impaired autonomy
5. They lead to rebellion
6. They disallow better solutions
7. They disallow real life circumstances

Is it possible that the musts are part of the problem instead of part of the solution?
If musts cause all these awful things, then maybe musts make matters worse.

Regardless of the time of year, try this for your New Year's Resolution: Give up your musts. Replace them with your own personal autonomy, as in:

1. I prefer
2. I would like to
3. I'm wondering if this would work for me
4. I'm pondering
5. I strongly prefer
6. I'm interested in trying
7. I'm curious about

Incredibly, Diet Survivors members who find true, lasting success at learning intuitive eating are those who report their progress was aided by giving up their musts.

Today, ponder the possibility of giving up your musts. Decide if you'd prefer to do that. Then experiment with it.