It’s OK to Say YES!

“If someone offers you an amazing opportunity to do something and you're not sure that you can do it, say yes, then learn to do it later.” ~ Richard Branson

So many times, we're presented with opportunities and we feel like we don't have all the answers or we don't have all of our ducks in a row so it stops us from saying yes to amazing opportunities. Today I want you to say yes to yourself, to make changes, to what brings you joy, to your why, to your purpose, to your passion, to all the things that are possible, to live richer, fuller, and more vibrant lives. Saying YES can change your life.

I’m celebrating today. Three years ago today, I published The Passion and Profit Project. I set out to write a book, get it off of my heart, and tell the stories. I said yes to doing something that was scary. I do not identify as a writer or an author, but I wanted to share the power behind making decisions. There were stories that I wanted to share, but I had to get over my thoughts that I wasn't a writer. So, I made the decision. I said YES, yes to being convicted in the fact that I had something to share that the world needed to hear and that our community needed to hear it, so I was going to learn how to do it. I said yes to the idea and then I learned how to do it after. I'm going to say yes to opportunities and I'm going to do something even if I don't know how to make it all work because everything is figureoutable. 

There are a million reasons to say no and make excuses, but we'll know internally when it's time to say yes. Yes, leads to more doors and no is often the closing of doors. What I have to tell you is this: when we say yes, more doors start to open. When we say yes and we open ourselves up to new ideas, we open ourselves up to being able to receive whatever the universe is trying to send to us. 

Starting a nonprofit was, again, not necessarily something in my wheelhouse. It's something that I kept saying no to, and I had all the excuses why I kept saying no. Launching a nonprofit was not something I had ever done before, so I made these excuses about why it wouldn't work when the reality was it was fear telling me all the things that I'm not good enough, that I don't know anything about it, and who am I to launch a nonprofit. So, I kept shutting the door, but when I finally said yes and stripped away the excuses, and leaned into the idea that everything is figureoutable and that I can learn to do anything, it opened the door to opportunities.

As soon as I said yes, I started putting the plan in place and getting the support that I needed to help me. We shouldn't do it all by ourselves. If this isn't my zone of genius, I'm going to get support from experts. I am going to hire the right people to help educate me to do whatever the task is that I don't feel like I am the expert in that area. 

Once we launched the nonprofit. I got the support to make that happen. I put together a great board. Doors started opening. We applied for some amazing grants. We received $300,000 in grant funding in the first year so we can make a bigger impact in our community. It opened the doors for us to have conversations with people in our community about how they wanted to get involved, how they wanted to use us as a vehicle to do more good in our community, creating stronger community partnerships.

When we show up and we say yes to things, the opportunities become honestly abundant and very humbling. But we have to say yes to things. It takes a decision to say yes. And doing things scared, even if we feel like we're not equipped, but saying yes anyway, leads to more doors opening.

Opportunities do not always arise again, or at least not the same ones. One of the things that I took away from my time in Ireland is that life and luck favor the bold. Regret is sometimes the biggest risk of all. We tie things to the stories that we tell ourselves. 

Say yes and you'll figure it out. But don’t say yes to things that you truly don't want to do. Lean in and say yes when opportunity arises. When internally there's something that keeps pulling you and nudging you to say yes or that internally that you need to do it, you need to listen to it. Don’t stay sitting on the fence. Make the decision to say yes, commit to it, make the decision fully, and then you are unstoppable.