When in doubt, SAY YES

We face lots of decisions that are binary, YES/NO decisions. Should I workout this morning? Should I call mom? Should I drink (another) nasty green drink? Should I go to that party? Should I bother showering today :) ?

In all cases, the answer YES is the right one.

We program our brains to say NO far to often. We are guarded and afraid that other people will take advantage of us, that our time is too valuable or that we will put ourselves in a situation where we might be hurt.

I’ve found that it is far more difficult for us to say YES than to say NO. Perhaps it was all that “say no to drugs brainwashing” (good brainwashing but brainwashing nonetheless) that went on in elementary school; but for many of the hard things in life, saying NO is far too easy.

This applies for learning a new skill, getting into a new social situation, exercising, diet….or anything really.

Take this example: you are faced with the decision of a) ordering and consuming a large veggie lovers pizza from Papa John’s or b) eating a large green salad with some tofu and avacado..something I am faced with at this very moment…the ensuing mental wrestling match will entail your brain trying to “say no” to the pizza. This is a losing proposition.

Saying NO implies scarcity. It means that you are giving up something. It closes off opportunity.

Instead of saying NO to the pizza, try refocusing your brain to say YES to option B, the big less-tasty-but-much-more-nutritious salad. Ignore option A and just say YES to option B as loud as you can.

Do not focus on what your are giving up, focus on what you are getting.

It may take a while, but reprogramming your brain to say YES should result in a much more powerful cue that you can leverage to make the right decisions in your life. It should also become easier to d over time.

NOTE: I just thought about this “just say YES” technology today. I have no idea if this concept is something that is taught by other success coaches, but it makes sense to me so I’m gonna try it out in my own life! I’ll post updates about how this is going as we move along.