Are Your Standards Protecting You or Trapping You?

A woman once said she could not start a family until she earned $1 million a year. Yet, after calculating private school, childcare, housing and other costs, the lifestyle she wanted would have required far less. Her target was not only about comfort. Having grown up with severe financial hardship, she was trying to ensure she would never feel helpless again. Her financial standard was real, but it was rooted in an old fear. Many of us do the same. We may postpone marriage until we earn a certain amount, demand impossible qualities from a partner or delay important decisions until every risk disappears. Standards are not the problem, but we should understand where they come from. Before tying your safety or happiness to a number, status or condition, ask yourself: is this a practical need, a personal value or a fear I have never examined? What is one standard you have set for yourself that you have never really questioned?

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