Short spoken mini-chapter (Philosopher's Notes) by Brian Johnson introducing the simple cognitive/linguistic technique of swapping 'should' statements for 'could' statements to adopt a more empowering, less self-condemning perspective. Johnson illustrates with examples ("I should have gone" → "I could have gone") and invites listeners to play the "should-to-could" swapping game to reclaim agency.
Hi, this is Brian with another mini chapter from a Philosopher's Notes. This one's called Shoulds to Coulds. So, speaking of shoulding on yourself, from our last mini chapter, Luis, founder of Hay House. Hey, has a great idea here as well. She tells us to pay attention to how often we're dropping the should bomb and see if we can swap out those stinky shoulds with a more empowering could. She doesn't quite put it that way, but you get the idea feel into this. If I say I should have gone to that party or I shouldn't have said that, there's a much more disempowering energy to it than if I swapped out that should with a could. Like, so I could have gone to that party and I could have chosen not to say that. Can you feel the difference there? It's strong. Subtle, but strong. The should implies you're basically an idiot and you totally screwed up. While the could carries a much more empowered. Well, yeah, I could have done it differently. Maybe next time I will. It's got that mojo to it, right? So if you're excessively shoulding, you might want to try out the should to could swapping game. It's fascinating to see how often the shoulds come out and a lot of fun to see how easy it is to slide into a more empowered perspective. Shoulds to coulds bring back a little bit more of your power. See how often you're dropping that should bomb and see if you can translate it into a could should you could. Hope you enjoyed. Look forward to sharing more with you soon. Have another awesome day.
