𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝘆 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 2026)

"We're going in another direction this year."

Seven words. One email. A gig I thought was locked in, gone. Blurgh.

I stared at my screen. Felt that familiar tightness in my chest. The one that whispers, "You're falling behind."

2025 wasn't catastrophic, but it wasn't great either. Inquiries came in, but momentum? That disappeared somewhere between January's optimism and September's reality check.

Most productivity advice would tell me to grind harder. Wake up at 4 am. Cold plunge. Hustle until my eyes bleed. (Okay, nobody actually says that last one, but you get the vibe.)

But after 30+ years of performing and speaking, I finally admitted something:

𝗠𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲.

When "Yes, But" Becomes Your Default

For someone who teaches the "Yes, And" framework, I will sheepishly admit; I can be a real master of "Yes, But" at times:

- Yes, I should finish my book, BUT let me check LinkedIn first

- Yes, I should reach out to prospects, BUT maybe after this YouTube video

- Yes, I should work on my new keynote, BUT that's scary and overwhelming

Sound familiar?

So I did what I tell my clients to do: I applied my own framework to myself.

The YES AND Framework (On Myself This Time)

Y - Yield to What Is

First step: Stop fighting reality and accept whatever the heck was going on. This came down to two things: 1)  Business was slower -  that was data, not a character flaw. Time to accept that what I was doing wasn’t working. 2) After 30+ years, telling myself to "just do it!” was not going to somehow magically start working. (Apologies to Nike and Michael Jordan…)

𝗘 - 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲

What actually works for ME? Looking back, when were the times I was very focused and productive? They were there. And they often happened when I focused on what works for me, not on what the experts and gurus say I *should* be doing. It was time to stop worrying about what everyone says is the best way to work and look inside and figure out what really works for me.

𝗦 - 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀

Instead of "revolutionize my entire business model," I started with: "Block social media and email for 2 hours." Try little things, see what works, discard the rest. Revolutionary? No. Effective? Absolutely. 

𝗔 - 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀

This is where it got interesting. I discovered Elizabeth Filips' concept of "impatience priming" - working when motivated, and when not, instead of leaning hard into discipline and ”just doing it,” spend those times to actually “prime the motivation.” Do things that get me excited and motivated to do the task. Sounds weird, and a bit “wrong” (“No! You are not supposed to worry about motivation! Discipline!! Grind!!! Hustle!!!!”). But it works for me. Instead of shaming myself for not having discipline, I started engineering environments where motivation showed up naturally.

𝗡 - 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

Remember that email about losing the gig? Old me would've numbed out with social media. New me grabbed a notebook, did a shortened version of morning pages, and sat with the feeling. No scrolling. No avoiding. Just noticing, accepting, and processing.

Then something weird happened. After sitting with the discomfort for maybe 10 minutes, I started noodling on work. Then actually working. Then crushing it for two hours straight.

𝗗 - 𝗗𝗶𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿

The deepest truth? I wasn't just fighting procrastination. I was fighting how my brain actually works. The progress came when I dug deeper into myself, my emotions, and the entire process of what I was doing and why and how I was doing it.

What Actually Worked (The Unglamorous Truth)

After spending a little time thinking, reflecting, processing, and priming, I crafted a plan that was customized for my brain and my work style, which included:

1. 𝗗𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

I use the Freedom App now. Not because I lack willpower (well, ok, clearly I do. I once spent 45 minutes watching Youtube videos on how to spend less time online. The irony was not lost on me. Or maybe at the time it was. But now I am more enlightened. Or something…), but because I'm human with a human brain that evolved to seek quick rewards. Fighting biology with willpower is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. (And yes, I know that's a violent metaphor for a humor guy, but work with me here.)

2. “Doubling” 𝗼𝗻 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺

Multiple times a week, I hop on Zoom with a speaker friend and we work. Not together on the same project; just at the same time. She works on her high priority activity and I work on mine. This is a process called “doubling,” and just the simple act of working in someone else’s presence is enough to keep me focused and productive. It’s basically  “study hall” for adults but without the “passing notes about my crush” part. 

3. Lase𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀

I stopped launching that new program. Stopped chasing that shiny partnership. Stopped everything except finishing my book. You know what happened? Momentum came back. (Who would've thought that would work? Well, probably everyone without an ADHD brain. But not me, because, you know, improv guy…) And yes, the draft of the book is done and I am on track for a March launch.

4. An “𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲” 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹

For 2026 I'm doing something that makes my brain immediately say "Yes, But..." 

I'm developing a completely new keynote to go along with my new book. Not just new slides or a new story or two or a little “tweaking” of my content. I am instead working on “impossible goals.” 

I talk about this in greater detail in my upcoming book, but the gist is that an impossible goal is one that when you set it, you have no idea how to achieve it and you maybe even think you can’t (hence the "impossible” thing). Then you go figure it out.

For me, this involves incorporating improv games I currently think are impossible to do with just audience volunteers. Using multimedia in a way I never have. And leaning more into the improvisation, where chunks of the content itself are created on the fly with audience involvement. 

My brain says this is impossible. Good. That's exactly where the magic lives. (Besides, my brain also thought it was a good idea for me to keep a full beard my entire junior year of college. So it clearly doesn’t know everything…)

Your Operating System Is Not Broken

If you're reading this thinking, "But I should just be more disciplined," let me save you some time:

• Maybe discipline isn't your problem.
• Maybe you're fighting your operating system instead of working with it.
• Maybe your "weakness" is actually data about how you work best.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿:

• What if your procrastination is actually your brain protecting you from something?
• What if you replaced "I need more discipline" with "I need better systems"?
• What if the thing you're avoiding is exactly what you need to lean into?

Here's what I learned after a year of "not great":

• Sometimes slowing down is the setup for speeding up.
• Sometimes struggling with the old way means you're ready for the new way.
• Sometimes your business needs to break a little so you can rebuild it better.

I spent 2025 fighting myself. In 2026, I'm working with myself instead.

The framework I teach others? Turns out it works on the teacher too. (Shocking, right?)

Your Move:

Pick one thing you've been saying "Yes, But" to. Just one. Apply the YES AND framework:

• Yield to why you're really avoiding it
• Explore what you actually need (not what you think you should need)
• Start with the smallest possible step
• Access your creativity (when motivated, not forced)
• Notice the emotions without numbing them
• Dig deeper into what's really going on

And if you want help figuring out your own operating system for 2026, send me a message. I'm getting pretty good at this whole "practicing what I preach" thing.

Oh, and that gig I lost? Three weeks later, a better opportunity showed up. Not because the universe rewards positive thinking (eyeroll), but because I wasn't desperately clinging to the wrong thing anymore. Funny how that works.