Permission granted

As Lucy Griffiths embarks on a new life in the country, she urges us to silence our inner critics, forget about shoulds and pursue happiness

AFTER YEARS OF DREAMING about country life, I’ve taken the leap, moving from a big city to a small village. It’s so exciting, but it took me a long time to make the decision. Stepping into the unknown isn’t always easy for introverts.

Perhaps you’re doing what you think you should be doing, but it doesn’t necessarily make you happy. I certainly felt like this. But shoulds suck!

It’s about trusting your gut and being prepared to follow your intuition. Sometimes, we’re not used to going within and really listening to what we want, and very often we ignore the warning signs when our inner GPS is flashing.

How do you tune into the passionate and purposeful voice within?

In what ways are you mean to yourself ?

How do you mentally beat yourself up with negative chatter? How would your life be transformed if you stopped listening to your inner critic? Catch yourself being nasty to yourself and, instead of chastising the voice, say: ‘Thank you for trying to protect me. It’s time to listen to another voice now. I promise I’ll be OK.’ Then, give yourself permission to go for what feels right, even if you don’t have all the answers.

This is your opportunity to ask for what you want. Sometimes, you don’t know what you want in life, but you know exactly what you

don’t want. What do you choose to let go of?

What would you do if you could be unapologetically you? Give yourself permission to stop pleasing others and doing what you should

do, leaving space to do what you love. You don’t have to do anything that doesn’t feel right. This is your opportunity to reset your ‘should button’ and do what you want to do.

Lucy has co-created our series of ‘Create the life you want’ courses. Sign up at courses.psychologies.co.uk/ loveyourlife; lucygriffiths.com