#SummerOfYes was an exercise in self-care I came up with on a dog walk three years ago, to help put more balance into my life. Fun and excitement and joie de vivre had disappeared from it, after constantly tending to and caring for my media business in its earlier years. Saying no to great opportunities and experiences along the way, so to work long hours on my business goals, meant other important things – expansion, a good time, a day off – had not been given any love, or sometimes even happened.
To dial up the volume, I decided that every time an opportunity or person or experience came my way in July and August, I’d say yes to it. Even if it was out of my comfort zone (naked camping with 300 gay men,) I’d say yes. Who knows where all of it would lead?
Not only did I learn how to stand around butt naked, with a cup of coffee chit-chatting causally, all without burning my dangly bits, that summer was the best one of my life, with touchstones along the way that wove deep personal value and meaning into the season, and that year marked the beginning of a friendship with someone I value very much.
Now that the sun is finally here, It’s time to say yes once again. Here’s why “yes” is powerful.
We live in an agreement-based universe. It doesn’t understand a man-made languages like English with the word “no” in it. It simply gives to us more of that what we focus on. (This is how Rob Ford got elected, how George Bush got elected, and Donald Trump, too: so much shouting “no” a them and then the physical manifestation so many didn’t want occurred.)
Having a yes-based attitude – “how can we make X happen?” instead of “here are all the reasons why X couldn’t” is a leading-edge advantage that separates those who achieve great things while others sit in mediocrity. A life lead by someone constantly giving reasons why not becomes a life where nothing happens.The degree in which change occurs in your life – especially if you are someone who feels any kind of malaise, or just simple boredom, more frequently than you care to – matches the degree to which you say yes to things. If you don’t, life pretty much stays the same.
You might be thinking that you in fact do say yes to a lot, but #SummerOfYes isn’t about saying yes to someone asking something of you to suit their needs or wants. It’s about you. Saying yes to your needs and your life and to the very good things that await you is akin to the instructions you get before you fly on an airplane and need to use the oxygen mask. Parents are instructed to put their needs first so they can better look after their children next.
Here are ways in which you can give yourself a yes-based summer:
- Say yes to trying something new, like taking a course
- Say yes to new challenges – write that book already
- Say yes to things that scare you
- Say yes to connecting with strangers
- Say yes to things that break you out of routine – walk home another route and stop having sushi every Monday
- Say yes to noticing the random coincidences and signposts that are meaningful to you as you summer unfolds that teach you that yes is where it’s always at, any time of year.
Hashtag #SummerOfYes on your social media to share with everyone how saying yes is leading you to adventure and transformation.
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