How saying ‘Yes’ to life could change your life!

I am a massive fan of saying ‘Yes’!

It’s not some big new trend. People have been saying ‘Yes’ for generations. Probably since the creation of the spoken word. Or at least since the beginning evolution of the English language. Before that it was probably ‘Oui’ or ‘Ja’ or ‘Si’ or something.

I wonder who the first person to say ‘Yes’ was. Do you think they realised the repercussions of their word?

Anyway, that’s beside the point.

There are two gentlemen who have embraced the ‘Yes’ mantra. Two giants among us normal folk who have inspired me to open up my opportunities to fulfil my dreams.

The first is Danny Wallace. A spectacle wearing genius (the specs made him look even smarter than he is!) who realised that his life was pretty rubbish because he was saying ‘No’ to every opportunity that came his way.

I wrote a book called Sardines about how his story persuaded me to try and do some of the things that I’d been putting off.

The second wonderful individual is the ginger haired Dave Cornthwaite (don’t hold his gingerness against him. He is genuinely a nice bloke). This leader of tribes started his own cult around the phrase ‘Say Yes More’. No, sorry. It’s not a cult. Honest!

Both these dudes were at a miserable mundane point in their lives when they decided to turn it all around by saying ‘Yes’ and now they are both living the life they want.

I personally had a similar situation. I had the unerring feeling that life was passing me by without me actually achieving anything. So I said ‘Yes’ to a few more things and now I am writing and adventuring, two things that I always wanted to do.

Now there are a few things to consider when saying ‘Yes’:

It is ‘Say Yes More’, not ‘Say Yes to Everything’. You have the opportunity to say ‘No’ if you want to. And sometimes it is harder to say ‘No’ than to say ‘Yes’.
Do not take for granted your ability to choose. Living in the Western world we have the opportunity. Many people can’t choose their destiny. People in war-torn countries or places of famine and disease. They can’t choose.
YOU can choose. If you chose to walk out of your front door tomorrow, you could. If you chose to give up your day job, you could. If you chose to leave that relationship, you could. It may be tough at first. You may have people telling you that you can’t. Finances may be tight. You will have low points where you second guess your choice but believe in what YOU want and make the choice.
There will be times when the commitments affect your ability to choose. As a parent I know too well that I can’t just drop everything and go and row across the Atlantic, for example. However, I can build up to it. I can set it as my end goal and make baby steps in that direction. Another example is that if I can’t make any money from selling my books then I’ll have to go back to the day job. Permanently! Use you goals to drive you, to motivate you, to achieve more than you thought possible.
And lastly, enjoy saying ‘YES’. Embrace the opportunities that will arise, especially if you didn’t see them coming!

Have fun.