How to Find Your Way to YES

Fear can encourage us to say NO sometimes, like when we have a big idea or receive an offer that would serve to expand us. We can choose to shrink away from embracing these opportunities, or, we can choose to find our way to YES.

I’m a firm believer in following curiosity, interest, desire, excitement. For me, it’s that feeling of positive energy that rises up inside me when I’m really drawn to trying something new.

It can quickly turn to nervous energy because I know that doing it will stretch me beyond my comfort zone. And that’s scary. What if I fail?

There have been times when I hesitated and talked myself out of taking the leap. And there have been times when I knew that it was worth figuring out how I could bring myself to say YES. To create a level of comfort in the discomfort.

Sometimes NO has felt like a warm blanket wrapped around me. YES has felt like the high of new found confidence. In truth, there’s probably ‘right timing’ for both in our lives. It’s a matter of trusting your intuition (not fear) to guide you.

But I’m going to guess that there have been times when you knew it was the most authentic choice for you to say YES, yet you backed down. We all have our reasons – justifications – habits – stories.

Next time, I’m encouraging you to Be Brave and find your way to empowered & authentic YES.

Here’s what has worked for me:

• Commit to YES: Create and hold onto the intention that you will allow yourself to be seen, choose courage, and find a way to embrace opportunity by saying YES. Intention is powerful because it is the seed for your creations. Will follows intention.

• Tune In: Find a place with no distractions, breathe, settle into yourself, and ask, “What do I need to put in place that will provide enough comfort for me to say YES?” Allow your inner voice to offer answers. Then start taking action to put those pieces into place, one by one. This is not about creating the perfect fail proof scenario. It’s about creating the circumstances that are “enough” for you to say YES and take a leap of faith (in yourself, the Universe, or whatever fits best for you here).

• Reach Out: Sometimes finding support, mentorship, cooperation, collaboration, or partnership will provide the missing piece that you need to say YES. It can offer the same warm blanket feeling as your default NO. Because of cooperation, I have a great story about an off-grid desert property-sitting adventure I had in Baja, Mexico that includes big hairy spiders and a sneaky snake (I was afraid to go alone so I found my way to YES by asking a friend to join me…and I’ve done the same with my consulting business by asking a trusted colleague to partner with me when I didn’t have the confidence yet to do an executive project alone).

• Do it Scared: Finding your way to YES doesn’t mean that you have to defeat your fear. It means doing it with fear by your side. Commit to yourself and do it. As confidence increases, the power of fear decreases.

• Celebrate and Reflect: Once you have done what you intended to do, it’s important to take a step back and acknowledge your accomplishments. Reflect on what worked, what you would prefer next time, what skills you have gained, new stories you have to tell, etc. Feel good. Feel proud. Feel confident.

• Repeat: Keep finding your way to empowered YES when it will lead you to a truer expression of YOU in your life and work.

Be Brave. Be Seen. Be True. In a sense, it’s all about saying YES to YOU.

I know you have something calling you…Find your way to YES. Start now.