Shifting Your Mindset From ‘I Have To’ To ‘I Get To’

Kathleen Riley's friend rescued her beloved dog, Ziggy, from the streets while teaching in Puerto Rico 7 years ago and has been by Riley's side ever since. That’s why we partnered with Life is Good to help you find methods for developing and keeping a positive attitude that can help you to shift your mindset from “I have to” to “I get to.” For example, a positive reframe may turn feeling like you “have to” clean your house into realizing that you “get to” take an hour to yourself to listen to that podcast you’ve been meaning to get to while you sweep your floors. To reap the benefits of positivity, Sharp recommends practicing gratitude every day — emphasis on the “practice.” “Like anything else, is essentially a skill,” he says. He recommends trying to focus more on “what you have, and less on what you don’t have … think about what’s going well at least as much, if not more than what’s not going well.” A lot of this is internal, but Sharp recommends turning some of that positive thinking back onto the world: “Don’t just work on feeling grateful, remember also to express gratitude. Every night at the dinner table, Life is Good founders Bert and John Jacobs’ mother, Joan, would say, “Tell me something good that happened today.” Inspired by their mom, and in honor of the brand’s 25th anniversary, they’re encouraging others to do the same.