No, not with a new partner but with this book from Shonda Rimes, Year of Yes.
As we get closer to ending 2015, my team and I have been planning for 2016 and I keep thinking of ways that we can implement the “Year of Yes” principals both in my business and in my personal life.
Shonda Rimes, the creator of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy shares her journey and wisdom of venturing outside of her comfort zone and saying “Yes” to everything that she is asked including spending more time with her children.
“I decided I was going to say ‘Yes’ to everything that horrified me, scared me, freaked me out, made me think I was going to die.” – Shonda Rhimes
Let me share with you some of my most important takeaways. Did I mention that I have read this book three times so far?
Lesson #1: Say Yes to You
I know that we all have many roles and demands that take our attention. Parent, spouse, employee, business owner, volunteer and it just seems like there is not enough time for yourselves. Shonda learned that she needed to put herself first in her Year of Yes, so she started building in time to workout and lost 100+ pounds.
Lesson #2: Say Yes to Playing and Rest
Running a business requires that business owners often work very long hours that include nights and weekends. However, this often comes at the sacrifice of play and rest. During her Year of Yes, Ms. Rimes decided to say ‘Yes’ to play and stopped working on weekends and answering emails that arrive after 7pm. She learned to rest, outsource and got play back into her life. She felt more relaxed and creative at work, wouldn’t that be a nice feeling again?
How can you add play and rest back into your life? Maybe that means taking time to exercise, getting your nails down, or sleeping in on Sundays. Where can you carve out time to say ‘Yes’ to playing and rest?
Lesson #3: Ditch the Dream and be a Doer
I should have started with this lesson. I want so many of you to read this quote directly from the book and take it in.
“Maybe you know exactly what you dream of being.
Or maybe you’re paralyzed because you have no idea what your passion is. The truth is, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to know.
You just have to keep moving forward.
You just have to keep doing something, seizing the next opportunity, staying open to trying something new.
It doesn’t have to fit your vision of the perfect job or the perfect life. Perfect is boring, and dreams are not real. Just….DO.”
– Shonda Rimes, Dartmouth commencement speech.
Here is the gift part, if you can’t tell I am obsessed with the idea of saying YES!
As we go into 2016, I want you to take the time to think about what you can say ‘Yes’ to and how that ‘Yes’ can help you move towards your goals. To do that, I would like to give you a chance to win a copy of this book.
Click here to be entered into the contest for a chance to get a free copy of the Year of Yes book.
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