Monday Motivation - Say Yes

Welcome to Monday Motivation - Say Yes

Each year around this time I become extremely reflective. There is just something about the shortened days and the cold and the coming of the New Year that makes me go into this like cocoon of thoughts. I go over the past year in my mind and celebrate my wins and examine my losses. I try really, really hard not to judge myself. It is so easy to judge and then fall into the trap of believing I should have done something different.

Judgment is not the point. The point is to learn something and reset my sights on where I am directing my ship. I've found unless I really set clear goals each year and then keep them in front of me daily, I wander. I'll get distracted and wind up chasing a new project. It winds up that I don't really get anything done, just a ton of half-finished projects.

And so this season—really it is the entire month of December—has become a kind of ritual for me to clarify and focus on what I want to set my aim on in the coming year.

This year, though, is different. I suspect there is not a single person on the planet who could say "I saw 2020 coming." On top of a global pandemic, I launched a start-up and moved across the country, and so this year I am bringing a new lens that I learned from my wonderful coaching training.

In coaching, we use the term "say yes" a lot to reaffirm a positive decision a person is making to accomplish a big goal. For example, if you have a goal of finishing a novel in 2021, that is a HUGE goal. To accomplish that goal, what are the things you need to "say yes" to? Do you need to say yes to going to bed early so you can wake up? Do you need to say yes to developing a writing routine? Do you need to say yes to stick with and finishing a book? Do you need to say yes to getting started?

Do that now. Think of your writing goal. The thing you are really after in this game. As long as you aren't driving, it's okay to close your eyes and really sink into this visualization. I try to feel what it would be like to have the dream. How would you look at yourself? How would it feel to hold that book in your hand? Or to finally lose that weight or rebuild that relationship you know is strained?

Once you have that visualization, take out a piece of paper and just write down ALL Of the things you would need to say yes in order to accomplish that goal. Don't slow down. Don't think about it. Don't judge yourself, just write and write and write and write.

Now you have the choice. You can say yes to those things, or you can choose to say yes to another set of options that will lead to a different outcome.

As we come into 2021, if you want to make a big change in your life, focus on the yesses. Let your daily actions be in response to your yesses, and while I can't promise that you'll always accomplish your goals, you'll give them a damn good run, and you just might find you have so much more potential and capability than what you imaged. And it all starts with saying yes.

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