… It Doesn’t Mean You Have To.

This is something I’ve found very useful for handling pressure. “Just because you can, it doesn’t mean you have to” is a reminder. It allows me to stand back and make choices about what what to do and how to act.

Another way of putting it might be “Just because you are able to do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you the person best qualified to do it.”

In my mind this spawns all sorts of sub-questions like:

“If I do this, what will it keep me away from/prevent me from doing?”

“If I don’t do this, what could I do instead that might be more useful?”

“Am I doing this because someone else expects it/will be angry if I don’t?”

“In doing this, am I depriving another person of an opportunity for growth and learning?”

“If I don’t do this, what is the worst thing that can happen?”

I’ll leave the analysis of the implications of asking such questions to you.