It’s easy to stay within the realm of what we know. It’s uncomplicated to box ourselves in and rarely venture beyond our self-constructed barriers. It’s comfortable.
Many times No comes easier than Yes.
And there are moments when no is the appropriate answer, but only when it comes from a place of knowing and not from a place of fear or temporary discomfort.
A couple things have come up recently where I could have either said No, I don’t do that or said Yes, let me figure that out.
I chose the second, if I hadn’t, you’d be reading something else today.
The other day I was asked to do something totally out of my business zone, sort of.
Friends of my auntie are coming to Hawaii and they have two young teenage daughters. The girls enjoy active adventure; the parents not so much. So they were looking for someone to take them around and hang out with them.
Now, you won’t find that service on my website. It’s not something I do, per se, but it’s not always so black and white as that.
Of course when a family member asks you for something, you look a little deeper at how you can say yes, but in taking a deeper look at this opportunity, I realized that most things deserve creative consideration and tucked it away for future occasions.
In contemplating the offer, I needed to meditate on the entire picture, all the possibilities of it.
One of my goals this year is to mentor kids on how powerful their voice is, I do love to adventure, and helping family is very important to me.
But at the same time, in order to avoid resentment, I needed to feel that it was worth it for me.
What was it worth to me to guide these girls, knowing that I also had a desire to help?
I had to come up with a number, and then I also had to communicate that number. Of course the eeek factor reared its head and worry about how I’d be perceived surfaced. Another lovely opportunity to work through my stuff.
Wanting to give this woman multiple options, I thought I could recommend an adventure tour company as well as the option to go with me privately.
At the same time, on the other side of my life, I’d been chatting with an individual I’d met on a (gasp) dating site; he happens to run an adventure tour company. So I asked him if they ran tours for unaccompanied kids.
Why yes they do.
With options in hand, I replied to the mother. Immediately after sending the text she came back saying, Thank you! Let’s do a combination of you and the adventure company. Then she asked some questions that require I call him in order to answer with confidence.
Turns out his company is an awesome fit for them, and, after sorting the referral, we continued down the path of conversation.
We discussed opportunity and business. He said, “You know, we work with other businesses and so often all we hear is ‘No, we don’t do that’ instead of saying, ‘Well that’s not typical for us, but let’s see how we can figure it out.’ And they miss so many opportunities for growth.”
I had to chuckle to myself because I knew that saying yes to an opportunity outside my norm is exactly what expedited this fantastic conversation.
Is he the man of my dreams? I don’t know. Is he a totally awesome guy and entrepreneur doing something amazing on this island that isn’t always conducive to young conscious business owners who are seeking to better themselves? Yep!
That in itself is reason enough to have said yes to something that wasn’t typical for me, and I’m sure my experience with the girls will be fabulous as well.
The point is, you don’t know where the rabbit hole of yeses will lead you.
You don’t know how the universe will connect the dots for you, but if you stay closed, it doesn’t have a lot of opportunity to use its infinite creativity to orchestrate something fabulous.
Now, I wouldn’t make a business out of saying yes to everything that comes your way. There is merit in specializing. However, there are times where it is absolutely worth it to stretch beyond your ‘typical’.
Before you say no, consider the whole picture – it might not be a fit, or it might be an adventure. Your job is to suspend your reaction long enough to come to an intuitive decision.
As my new-found friend says, “I believe that if someone sits down at a Chinese restaurant and wants to order a pizza, you don’t say, ‘We don’t have pizza’, you say ‘Sure, it’ll be $200 and we’ll get you any pizza you want, please come in and enjoy some tea while you wait.’ Then the guy down the street makes it and everyone’s happy.”
So, next time you’re presented with an unusual opportunity, pause and see if it piques your interest. If it does, then ask yourself, What is this worth to me?
By doing so you open yourself for…
Possibility.
Business.
Love.
Unexpected awesome.
New experiences.
Magical manifestations.
And isn’t all that the point of this life?