billhamp 
September 6, 2012So this weekend Amanda and I wanted to find a movie to watch. Something light. Just something to relax to. We chose Yes Man w/ Jim Carey. Basic plot. . .guy is married, gets divorced, doesn’t want to commit to anything again so he doesn’t accept any invitations. . .to any thing. Problem is he ends up being alone all the time and his life is miserable. Goes to a Tony Robbins type seminar and agrees to say Yes! to everything. Every offer, every decision will be Yes from that point forward. Of course, his life gets very exciting and he begins to experience things that his former self would have never experienced. In other words. . he begins to live again.
Simple movie, simple plot. Had it’s funny parts. HOWEVER, I was struck that on a smaller level and for different reasons, I had become a No guy. Not for fear of commitment or getting hurt. But for fear of getting stuck doing something I didn’t enjoy or worse yet, ***Vulnerable Alert!*** for fear of it not working out, failing publicly, looking dumb, etc. So embarrassing to admit but true.
This attitude had crept in slowly. Not on the big things. But on little things. I missed a few experiences b/c I didn’t want to fail. In a strange way, this movie made my mind think about this. What if I said Yes more? What would I get to experience that I would have missed otherwise?
How about you? Could you say Yes more? Would it help pop you out of a routine or a rut that you may be in?
Saying yes to a 10-week trip to Costa Rica this summer was one of the best things we’ve ever done as a family. We started thinking about life differently, asking more “What if?” questions and realizing life shouldn’t be boring. Now my wife is considering road-tripping to CA instead of flying for Christmas (we have a 1yo and a 3yo).
I’ve also been so focused on my job (at the time, two of them, actually), that I haven’t done any side work or started any new projects over the last few years. A couple weeks ago, a hackathon got me thinking about a really good business idea. I’m going to make the time to say yes to it and not worry about if it fails or (maybe worse) if it really succeeds and asks for more time than I have.
Thanks for posting, Bill. I’m looking forward to future posts.
Thanks for the comment Luke. I’ve loved following your Costa Rican adventures on Twitter. Take that road trip. I know you won’t regret it!
Holy cow, Bill Hampton back to blogging!
I agree with you and Luke. Like you I get intimidated by public failure, which has caused me to put some of my dreams on hold. I need to say “yes” more often to my dreams. And I need to say “screw it” to the fear.
If the fear has to do with what others might think. . .absolutely!