When circumstances or conditions are imperfect to pursue something we’d love, it’s all too tempting to retreat. Beautiful dreams and desires fall casualty to two small but hugely debilitating words, “Yes, but…”
Yes, we would love to do something, but there’s some reason we think we can’t move ahead. The part of us that fears failure and the unknown screams to call it a day and go home, but there’s another way. Instead of succumbing to circumstances with a “Yes, but…” we can create a different, more desirable outcome through the powerful perspective of “Yes, and…”
Yes, conditions might be less than ideal, and there is always something we still can do to go forward.
I had the opportunity to play with this liberating lesson during a retreat earlier this year with my mentor. She’d invited two professional comedians to lead us through an improv workshop to teach us that life itself is an improv act, full of unforeseen twists and turns constantly calling on us to improvise.
Through a variety of fun and sometimes off the wall activities, we discovered that every one of us is equipped with an improv muscle. When things come at us, we act. The difference maker is whether we choose to surrender and adapt with confidence or resist what’s happening. The former makes for a much smoother, more enjoyable ride and often leads to results better than we ever could’ve imagined.
I fell prey to the “Yes, but…” syndrome last year when, on the eve of fully launching my coaching practice, I held back. While working with clients was deeply fulfilling, at the time I felt a magnetic pull to return to the diligent writing of my novel. Yes, I wanted to serve people as a certified life coach, but I didn’t think I could both coach and focus on my book.
I’d erroneously thought my only choice was one or the other, so I poured myself into my book. All the while, my passion to teach and inspire continued to burn, patient in its beckoning for me to return at the right time.
With my newly discovered improv muscle flexed and nimble after my retreat earlier this spring, my “Yes, and…” light bulb went off. “Yes, I can be a best-selling author and I can help people claim the authentic stories of their lives as a coach.” It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
My desire to guide and coach people burns as strongly as my passion to write; both are essential parts of who I am at my very core, and I’m now stepping up to honor both.
Is there a fire within you burning to do something you’d love, yet a “Yes, but…” holds you back?
Take pause and look at things from a different perspective. There always is something we can do to advance our dreams when we believe anything is possible.
