Say Yes

I’ve challenged myself to say “yes” more often.

I am defaulting to “yes” and rarely saying “no”. Whether to personal or professional opportunities, I’ve come to realize that reasons I give myself for saying “no” are just excuses to stick with the status quo.

Here’s what seem like some reasonable reasons to say “no”.
* Focus. “I need to stay focussed on one thing. That other thing you want me to do will make me lose focus.”
* Time management. “I don’t have time to spare.”
* Commitment. “I won’t be able to give it (that new thing) the time it deserves.”

Saying “yes” has less impact to focus, time management, and commitment than is first imagined. Here’s why.

Start

There web and bookstore shelves are full of authors and advisors urging us to produce instead of plan, to do instead getting bogged down in deciding. Some urge readers to “Ready, Fire, Aim.” In The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki says

GET GOING.
Start creating and delivering your product or service. Think soldering irons, compilers, hammers, saws, and AutoCAD—whatever tools you use to build products and services. Don’t focus on pitching, writing, and planning.

The planning is not the start. The deciding is not the start. I often fool myself into thinking I am starting something, when actually I am working on the stuff I think I need to do in order to start. In most cases, I’m wasting time.

For this blog, the 20 minutes I spent looking for a great WordPress theme could have been spent starting this post.

For iPhone development, the 30 minutes I spent looking through a short stack of iPhone development books, trying to decide which to buy, could have been spent actually starting iPhone development.

Don’t worry about the details just yet. Right now, today, Just Start.