Tag Archives: accepting self

When You Say YES to Others

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“When you say, ‘YES’ to others, make sure you are not saying, ‘NO’ to yourself.”

—Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Author

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Throughout the seven years I’ve been writing The Quotable Coach blog, I’ve posted numerous times about saying, “Yes” and “No” to requests made by others in our personal and professional communities.

To add a bit more bite to this subject, I’d like to add the words, “Oh,” “Heck,” and even “Hell” before the No’s and Yeses, to see if it creates a bigger shift in how you react and what you agree to do.

EXERCISE:

Where would saying, “Hell No!” to others and “Hell Yes!” to yourself a few more times make the biggest difference in your world?

You may consider using the concepts from the book, The Power of a Positive No by William Ury to find more polite ways to communicate your decision.

“If you’re able to be yourself, then you have no…”

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“If you’re able to be yourself, then you have no competition. All you have to do is get closer and closer to that essence.”

—Barbara Cook, 20th century American singer and actress

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This quote reminds me of Shakespeare’s famous “to thine own self be true” statement, from Polonius’ speech in Hamlet.

The issue of fitting in and wanting to be accepted is not simply one for our school years. It continues into adulthood, professionally and personally.

Instead of participating and competing in a world of judgement and comparison, perhaps the wisest journey and focus should be to be our best selves.

EXERCISE:

What would you need to do in either your professional or personal worlds to tap into your most authentic and genuine essence, to be perfectly yourself?

By the way, there is a book titled Perfectly Yourself, Nine Lessons for Enduring Happiness by Matthew Kelly, that I recommend you explore.