The Power Of Saying YES
Elizabeth Houghton
Sutton Full Potential Founder
The power of saying yes. Richard Branson has been quoted saying, “I have enjoyed life a lot more by saying yes, than by saying no.” Those three little letters, Y E S, are magic. They provide us with access to our wants, our dreams, and our desires. Say yes to as much as you can. Opportunities are there for all of us, all the time. We just have to be open to them, to be able to see them and to be able to hear them. There is no shortage of opportunities out there for you. Whatever you want to do, say yes, and go and do it.
I know you may feel that there is already a lot of people doing what you want to do, so there is no room for you too. That is simply just not true. There is enough room for you also! All you need to do is say yes. Nothing is standing in your way to realising your dreams, your wants, and your desires, apart from you. If you want to do something, the only thing, and I mean the only thing that is stopping you, is your mindset. It is only YOUR mindset that is stopping you from saying yes. Step out of your own way. I am not going to lie to you, stepping out of your own way and saying yes takes a lot of courage. I am telling you right here, right now, you are brave enough, you are strong enough. At the start, it will be a little bit daunting, overwhelming maybe, and that is okay. In the middle, it will be chaotic, but once you have said yes and stepped out of your own way, you will feel amazing and you will be absolutely, without a doubt, awesome!
If you want to try something new, you absolutely can. There is no reason why you cannot. The only thing standing in your way is you. The only thing standing in your way is you. Let that sink in. The only thing standing in your way is you. If I had not said yes to trying something new, you would not be here today reading this blog, and I can tell you it was terrifying to start with. I was so overwhelmed and so unsure, but I said yes to trying something new, and here we are today, you are reading this blog, hopefully picking up a few tips to help you on your journey to finding success on your own terms.
So, what is stopping you? Why are you unable to say yes to yourself? Sydney Howard, the Gone with the Wind screenwriter, stated, “One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give it before you can get it.” What you must give up is saying no. If you want to live a life reflecting on your wants, your dreams, and your desires, you must give up saying no to yourself.
The things in life we regret are the things we do not do, not the things we do. Ask yourself would you instead have tried and known, or never have attempted and regret? Trying something new does not mean you have to say no to something else, apart from yourself that is. You do not need to remove anything from your life you enjoy if you say yes to giving something else a go. Saying yes simply means you are saying yes to that thing. You have nothing to lose from saying yes and everything to gain. How do you want to feel when you look back on yourself 6 months from now, a week from now? Do you want to look back and feel as though you are stuck in the mud, that you have gotten nowhere, nothing has changed, you have not grown, and so you are stuck on groundhog day? Or do you want to look back and feel like you have said yes to you, that you gave it a go, that you have tried something new? If you say no, how are you going to feel? If you continue to say no to yourself, how are you going to feel? Think about it. Imagine that version of yourself 6 months from now, a week from now, if you continue to say no. How does that feel?
Now, say yes to yourself. Fast forward 6 months, a week, and look back on yourself. How does that feel? Start saying yes to opportunities. Start saying yes to yourself. The word ‘yes’ is energising and has a metaphysical relationship tied to movement and energy. In comparison, the word ‘no’ denotes motionless and fixedness. ‘Yes’ is an action-orientated word, where ‘no’ is adverse to action. Say yes, be action orientated. What is stopping you? Say yes, NOW! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.