Shoulda, coulda, woulda.
Of these, the worst is “shoulda”. Should have. Not “should of”. (just had to get that off my grammarian’s chest)
Why? Because should is the past tense of “shall” and it means that something was possible in the past, or you had the ability to do something in the past, but that you didn’t do it.
Usually, it’s paired with a past participle, so it looks something like: “I should have made cold calls.” -OR- “I shoulda done my marketing this week.”
If you find yourself saying “shoulda” a lot, it’s time for an adjustment. Either your goals aren’t realistic, or your list is getting frayed, or your priorities are all cattywompus… or even worse, you are suffering from overload.
Blogger Chris Brogan calls it’s “attention waste” which means you need to create a better “attention budget”.
It’s sooooo true. In the age of information overload, we’re tapped out. There are so many perceived consumer, social media, work, family, and cultural responsibilities, that it’s easy to get waylaid.
That’s the old argument of “…do the things which are important, not urgent…”
All this comes back to the 5,365,678,902 books written about how to better manage your time…and the equal number of apps, webinars, workshops, and blogs you can absorb that claim to do the same.
You don’t know how to manage your time? OK, watch this hour-long video that you don’t have time for, and at the end, pay money (which, again, you don’t have time for) to actually get the content. UGH.
“…Should’ is the past tense of the word ‘shall.’ When using the words ‘should have’ you are talking about something in the past that you ‘ought to’ or ‘might have’ done…”
I sure wish I could make up your mind for you.
A sage I am not.
You must make your own decisions…because each voice-actor’s challenges are different.
But…make them. Don’t ignore THIS decision…the one about setting priorities, or goals, or lists, or responsibilities.
Fear of facing that decision, or just procrastinating it won’t do.
In your mind, you KNOW what needs to be done.
Now, do it!
CourVO