Think As Inc

From Yes To No

September 6, 2009 on 9:25 pm | In life coaching | No Comments

When you say yes to something, it means saying no to something else.  I am currently coaching a downsized accountant who had always kept his rock band, songwriting, and record producing as a hobby.  With no day job, his new free time has been quickly usurped by more practice time, a flurry of inspiration for more songs, and research into sound engineering to take his production skills to new levels.  Yes to music, but no to his job search.  With the few job leads he cobbled together not panning out, savings running low, and expenses increasing as he invests more into music, he knows he needs to add the job search back into the mix.  But how?

What are you saying yes to?  For our accountant by day/ musician by night (it’s like the geeky version of Flashdance), he has said yes to music taking a bigger priority than before.  He now is saying yes to his job search taking a bigger priority.

What will you say no to?  For “Flashdance” he simply must say no to an equivalent amount of activity somewhere in his schedule where the new job search activities will go.  This might be some music activity – maybe he can’t practice or write as much, or he needs to take the part-time sound engineering program – or it might be other activities that just don’t matter as much anymore.

Can you make this decision now hypothetically so you build your self-awareness and take time with your choices in case something wonderful unexpectedly falls in your lap?

I have never met anyone who doesn’t love happy surprises.  But if you’re flat out with your time and energy and have no idea which activities are priorities and which are extraneous, then how will you say yes to these happy surprises when they arise?  We all have extra room, but in the rush of busyness, we may not take the time to prune.  Then we miss these happy surprises because we are too busy to notice them or too exhausted to grab them when they alight in front of us.

Flashdance had resisted the job search earlier, but his newfound energy from the increased music engagement has inspired his search.  He “found” the time by finding more inspiration and energy and admitting that there was a lot of fat in his schedule. 

We must say no to say yes.  We must say yes wholeheartedly to make an informed decision on when to say no.  What are you doing that is extraneous?  How can you say yes to more of what really matters to you?