“We’re going to climb Pikes Peak today. You should join us Aaron.”
Pause; remind myself that the lists of excuses for saying “No” are not that important or urgent or necessary. “YES. I’ll be there in an hour”.
Movies are extremely helpful in telling parable stories through the lives of someone else. The two movies that reframed my beliefs about risking saying “YES” more often are The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Yes Man. These are must see films if you think you might be prone to using the words like,
No
Ahhh, I really need to….
Well it’s been a long time since I….
You know my (person) really was expecting me to…
Keep me in mind for next time….
Give me a heads up next time and I’ll be able to plan better.
When I was a “No-man”, I used these phrases a lot and then I wondered why my life didn’t look the way I thought it should. I was in my own way. Now I start with “Yes” and see where it goes.
Please go watch these two movies and witness where the answer “Yes” takes their work, life, adventure, relationships, health, experiences, and play. I found the parables very fitting for my own life.
Click to Listen to Live a YES Life
Here are a handful of reasons; I used to say “No” a lot
I was afraid.
I was afraid, nervous, conscientious that I wouldn’t fit in, I wouldn’t be any good at the event, sport, the whatever. Great example, I don’t know how to play poker. It seems like one of those life skills I was supposed to learn to play back in college.
What would Walter Mitty do? Go play poker. Go sit at the table with the fellas and throw back a few. See where the evening goes. Meet new people or get to know someone better. Maybe even pick up a few tips on poker playing?
Get shit done.
It felt safer to manage my stress levels, obligations and commitments if I stayed at my post and plowed through another hour or another Saturday’s worth of tasks. My default mode was making sure my task lists were constantly being reduced.
What would a Yes Man do? Skip the BS task list and GO. My friend just told me, “Do you realize that when you die, your email is going to keep coming?” Based on that reality, the tasks will never be complete. Our inbox will never stay empty. So why not punt on getting more shit done and risk saying YES.
Pikes Peak Y Couloir climbing details
I wore my favorite Bluffworks as my technical climbing pants with a pair of Outdoor Research full gators. @StefanLoble (founder of Bluffworks), dude you would’ve been so proud seeing the pants take on a snow glissade.
For a full route description check out Mountain Project: Rock Climbing Guide & Photos of Y Couloir.
