Words Into Works 51 | Have To vs. Get To

James Clear is known by many as the New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits, a book that has sold more than 3 million copies. 

But what few people know is, before building his career as a writer, Clear trained in college baseball and, in particular, strength training.

One day, Clear’s strength and conditioning coach, Mark Watts, imparted a lesson in gratitude that Clear began using outside of the gym…

And it involved changing only one word in his daily vocabulary.

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All too often, we think of the things we have to do. The phone call we have to return. The job we have to wake up early for or dinner we need to cook for our family. 

But the reality is we don’t have to do these things; we get to do them.

By simply changing one word, you shift the way you view each event, writes Clear in Atomic Habits, reflecting on Watt’s wisdom. “You transition from seeing these behaviors as burdens and turn them into opportunities.”

Both versions of reality are true, of course—you have to and get to do these things. But you also get to choose. How you view things is within your trichotomy of control. 

You don’t have to. You get to.