OK – this weekend I finished a blog about the importance of saying NO.    So, God has to shake it up, and put someone else’s blog into my email today about the power of saying “YES”.    Never one to deny serendipity, I feel it is importance to acknowledge my appreciation of the importance  of saying YES.

The blog I received was from LANDMARK Insights… and I quote as follows:

“Yes” extends boundaries, establishes new playing fields, moves possibility from ideas to actuality. Actress and improv artist Tina Fey points to the opportunity yes affords us when she says, “the first rule of improv is agree—agree with whatever your partner has created. The second rule is yes, and—agree and then add something of your own. If I start a scene with ‘I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,’ and you just say, ‘Yeah…’ we’re kind of at a standstill. But if I say, ‘I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,’ and you say, ‘Yes, it can’t be good for the wax figures,’ now we’re getting somewhere.” 

So how do I reconcile saying YES, while not putting myself into a productivity drain, or by saying NO, and not leaving me “wanting.”

I believe the answer remains, as discussed in the previous blog, that my decision to say YES or NO must come from alignment with my integrity (alignment of intentions or alignment with my highest purpose).

I must understand my values, vision, mission, goals and objectives and overall intention in the world.    This “strategic guidance” for our lives (or businesses) ensures focused productivity and then guides me to say YES or NO from a place of strength.

Because, when I say YES, it is an agreement, a commitment, a responsibility that reflects upon my character and requires my action and follow through.    Saying YES is saying I commit to you this action and I will stand by it.

As I discuss with my son, it is only my actions that tell my story and not the words I use.   Therefore, saying YES or NO to you is an insight to who I am.

But to end, I must acknowledge that many times I say NO to avoid leaving my comfort zone and hide.   Saying YES in that regard is really saying, step into your fear, make room for possibility, live life to the fullest, take a chance.   And although I agree with all of these wholeheartedly, saying YES or NO is about being alignment with all of who I am.

Blessings – Pierre