Day Fifty-Six: An exercise in Yes, And

As much as I love the concept of "Yes, And" and wish it were my default, I really tend to be more of a "No" person. I can instantly come up with a million reasons why something won't work or why it isn't safe or what could go wrong, and I can talk myself out of just about anything. It's a well-developed and terrible habit, stemming from my fear of failure, that has no doubt kept me from reaching my full potential through the years.

This afternoon, after a conversation with my incredibly patient husband in which I was flexing my "No" muscle, he reminded me of my desire to be more of a "Yes, And" person and led me through a practice exercise. He would read off a job title and description, and say, "Mandi, you should be this," and no matter what it was or how much I felt like it wasn't the job for me I had to answer, "Yes, I should be that, and/because..." The idea being to only focus on the positive aspects and the ways I could embrace any given scenario. It was the first time I had done such an exercise, and though it was hard at first and felt really silly, it got easier as we went along. I will keep practicing because it's never too late to develop new habits.