Say "Yes And" to Yourself and Move Forward Towards Your Goals
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The concept of saying ‘yes and' instead of ‘yes but' is a powerful communication tool. However, it can be applied not just to how you interact with others, but also to how you interact with yourself. People easily fall into the pattern of ‘yes butting' themselves out of doing things.
As an example, consider a person who is thinking about starting a new career in marketing. Let's call her Sally. Let's also assume that Sally has never worked in marketing before. It is quite likely that every time Sally thinks about a marketing career, the ‘yes buts' start. ‘I want a career in marketing.' ‘Yes but I have no experience.' ‘Yes but what if I fail?' ‘Yes but no one will hire me.' ‘Yes, it would be nice, but I just can't.'
‘Yes butting ‘will cause two things in Sally's life. First she will come up with hundreds of logical reasons to not try the new career, thus talking herself out of doing what she wants. Second, she will create a strong negative vibe that she will associate with her new career. Plus, that negativity will spill over into the rest of her life, probably making her even more dissatisfied with her current career.
What if Sally tried it with ‘yes and?' ‘I want a career in marketing.' ‘Yes, and with that career I would be able to explore my creativity.' ‘Yes, and I would make more money.' ‘Yes, and I could adjust my resume to focus on the work most like marketing that I have done.' ‘Yes, and I could try to speak to people who have marketing careers and get advice about how to proceed.' ‘Yes, and I could take a night class on marketing to beef up my resume.'
With ‘yes and' Sally focuses on the positive benefits of the career shift, which motivates and energizes her. Then, ‘yes anding' leads to some action steps and solutions to her problem. ‘Yes and' can be a very powerful tool.'
In the book, ‘The One Minute Millionaire' by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen, there is an exercise that involves keeping a rubber band on your wrist and snapping it every time you say or think, ‘yes but.' This will make you aware of just how often you say it, plus it interrupts you from doing it so over time you will naturally stop saying ‘yes but.' Try it, and you might be surprised by just how red your wrist will become even after just one day.
Avish Parashar is a dynamic professional speaker who shows organizations and individuals how to get what they want using the Art and Science of improv comedy. He weaves together humorous stories, witty observations, and interactive exercises from improvisational comedy to get people laughing, learning, and motivated! Avish is most commonly called upon to deliver programs on Motivation, Sales, and Communication
For more free articles, downloads, and resources, visit http://www.AvishParashar.com
To learn how to apply the powerful principles of improv comedy to your own business or life visit http://www.ImprovforEveryone.com
