Stop Worrying About How Until You Get To Yes!

I just got off the phone with a client who is preparing to leave her job. She already has a part-time position lined up and is wondering what to do with the two other weekdays that she’ll have available.

As we explored some options I noticed that every time she came up with an idea that perked up her excitement, she immediately went into figuring out how to make it work. Instantly her enthusiasm vanished as she allowed herself to become overwhelmed by all the reasons why it wouldn’t work.

The excitement and enthusiasm and potential inherent in her ideas and dreams were quashed within seconds of their birth. There was no room to explore the possibilities and play with the dreams and imagine what could be.

She was getting to no before ever getting close to yes!

So I told her to stop worrying about how until she got to yes. We created a space within which she could explore ideas without needed to figure out the how. The how could come later if, in fact, she did take one or more of the ideas to yes.

Most of us tend to jump into the how far too soon. We throw a wet towel over our blossoming ideas and squelch the excitement and enthusiasm that any project will need to succeed.

Do you give yourself space to dream, to imagine, to explore ideas without limits? Do you create time on a regular basis to play and brainstorm and have fun?

Michael Gerber, author of the The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It, borrowed an idea from Walt Disney, when he created The Dreaming Room. It’s a place and time where people go to dream their biggest dreams without putting the fetters of what is possible upon them.

What big dreams might you come up with if you let yourself go into the Dreaming Room?

I’d love to hear some of your big dreams. Leave a comment below and let us know!

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Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Dreams, Inspiration, Productivity