Dualism: Get To vs Got To
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
- Thomas Edison
Life is a Get To vs a Got To proposition. I have used these two terms (Get To vs Got To) for 40 years. I have asked countless athletes and clients to help them understand the truth about their commitment to being successful.
Comprehending the “Get To vs Got To” concept will lead you directly to understanding “who” you truly are.
Get To
This is the good part. The “Get To’s” in life. This is what we love to do. The things we can’t wait to do. It’s the vacation of our daily life. You may GET TO eat ice cream once a week. GET TO may be your opportunity to see some one that is special to you. Your GET TO may be going on vacation, going on a run, riding your bike, going for a walk, hitting a golf ball, cooking an amazing dinner or it may be as simple as having some quiet time.
Many see Get To’s as things that make us smile. They are the release from a hard day’s work.
I remember when I was playing football. During the two-a-day practices the Get To was drinking water during a break time. I’m not talking hose water; I’m talking about water that was better than “water”.
We would bring our own plastic gallon milk jugs from home, that we had filled with water and put in the freezer the night before. We would bring these frozen jugs of ice to practice and leave them on the ground in the sun. When the first break came, we’d run to our jug, you see the sun would have melted some of the ice. That cold water was a Get To moment that I still remember when I drink cold water on a hot day.
What are your Get To’s? Are they the same now as they were when you were younger? How have they changed?
Got To
Got To’s are the things that we have GOT TO do. Going to school may be a GOT TO. Some people feel it’s a GOT TO proposition to get a job. We’re told that we’ve GOT TO eat things we don’t like because they’re “good for us”. We’ve GOT TO go to the dentist. So many GOT TO’s …
Got To’s are things that we don’t really enjoy doing but know we have to do just to subsist in this world.
When we look at the Got To’s from your past, are they still Got To’s you still have? You may enjoy taking care of your yard. You might look as the visit to the dentist as a pre-emptive plan to prevent bigger issues in the future. What are your Got To’s today?
The Transition
In order to become successful, we need to begin to transition the old “Got To’s” into Get To’s. We must minimize the things we have Got To do by delegating the Got To’s out of our life. Here is how I got rid of two Got To’s in my life.
I remember that a couple of my biggest Got To’s was having to mow the lawn in the summer and shovel snow in the winter. I hated both of these tasks. We didn’t even get an allowance. It was expected of us to do these tasks to help the family. Fifty years later I still hate mowing and shoveling.
Instead of keeping those Got To’s in my life I’ve overcome this hate by having a yard made of crushed rock and I moved to Arizona, so I don’t ever have to shovel snow again. I transitioned the Got To’s out of my life.
If going to work is a Got To then, clearly, you aren’t chasing your passion anymore.
You have a job. And a job’s “work” is different than your passion’s “work”. When I get home from the gym in the morning, I GET TO go to my outer office (my covered patio) and get to “work” on my passion. If your job is a Got To, transition out of it and chase your passion.
Even as a coach the only Got To moment was when I HAD to go to a staff meeting. I hated sitting there talking about things that could have been sent out in a memo, or told to me in passing. The other 20 coaches around the table never added anything, with a couple of exceptions, so it would have been easy for the head coach to say, “This is what we are going to do …” and we’re gone.
When I “met” with my coaches I had given them the workout we were going to talk about several days before the meeting, and when I asked, “Did y’all find any problems in the workout?” They already had their notes. We would fix the issues and move on. No speeches, just getting things done right. They became Get To meetings when we would have “Fat Burger Friday” meetings or “5 Guys Friday’s”.
Becoming UnCommon
Once you have transitioned your Got To’s in Get To opportunities then you are ready to move from Great to UnCommon.
To become UnCommon, you now have GET TO’s and “Oh, I’ve GOT TO do that” GOT TO’s. My friend’s Mark and Sonoko Paulson both lived in Japan. Mark was a teacher in Japan and his wife Sonoko was born and raised in Japan. They would show us pictures and talk about their time in Japan. It became a “I’ve GOT TO go to Japan” moment for me. And so, I did go to Japan, and it was better than Mark and Sonoko made it sound. I had the same reaction to Italy, Paris, London and China. All “I’ve GOT TO go see that …”
Ben Malcolmson wrote his book “Walk On” and told me about the experience. I sat back and said, “I’ve GOT TO finally finish my book.” And I did. I enjoyed the experience so much that I’ve GOT TO write two more.
Cutting Out the Dead Wood
When you clear out all the “dead wood” in your life’s garden (the negative Got To’s) you will be able to see the potential for all the things that now are possible in your life. Before you just saw the negative aspects of life. The Got To’s. Now you Get To see there is more to your life.
But when you understand the importance of your Got To’s – like laundry or doing dishes – then they become Get To moments. I Get To knock out this small load of laundry so I have clothes ready for this weekend’s speaking gig. If you let two weeks of laundry pile up then it is a Got To.
If I do the dishes as I use them then I won’t ever have a Got To moment with washing dishes. They’re always done and they are ready for me to use again in the future. If you let the sink pile up with dishes you have Got To eventually do them.
It's not that hard. It’s all in the way you perceive your Get To’s and your Got To’s. When you have cleared space in your life you now have room for all the things that you have “Just GOT TO do.”
Have an amazing day!
