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Friday, April 10, 2009

Yes Man

I watched the movie Yes Man a few days ago. The idea of the movie was really inspirational and eye opening. I really was excited and thought I was going to give it a try. But the more I thought about it, the more I started seeing some serious shortcomings. I'm still really psyched by the idea, that's why I'm taking a jab at tweeking the idea so that it can actually be applied.

The Yes Man idea in brief is that you should be open minded to everything and try new things. Say yes to everything that encounters you, and you will set yourself free by experiencing new and diverse situations. The character in the movie goes from being a self centered introvert to an outgoing spontaneous guy.

There are a few major problems with the idea though. You become reactive and slowly destroy your personality. You await people to run their ideas by you and then accept blindly without regard for your principles or preferences. You don't initiate anything. You don't innovate anything. You simply become a pawn in the game of the first person who approaches you.

The Yes Man idea can be really powerful, if someone is stuck in life and can't seem to get things rolling. The idea will take you out of your comfort zone, and into a broad world of opportunities. When someone presents you with an opportunity, before you say YES, first weigh it against your principles to see if it is acceptable to you. If all checks out, say YES. Once you have a full plate of events on your schedule, you will have to start filtering the things you say YES to. You can do that by weighing new opportunities against your goals. If an opportunity gets you closer to one of your goals, then say YES.

So now your exposed to new exciting opportunities, but you are not proactive yet. You are not in the driver's seat. You're not taking initiative to do things that are important to you. So now all you have to do is figure out what it is that is important to you. Once you know what it is that you want, say YES to it.

For example, if you decide that you want to become more social, your objective is: to become more social. Ask yourself, how can I become more social? If you decide you'll get there by attending more social events, your goal is: to attend more social events. So now you know that to achieve your objective all you have to do is achieve your goals. The next step becomes simple, actively seek your goals. Don't hesitate. Just say YES. Or in Nike terminology, Just Do It.

I'm going to start the Yes Man and let you know what happens.

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1 comment:

  1. Very interesting. This encourages me to see the movie. I wonder what made him turn from an introvert to the YES MAN. Gotta watch it.

    Steven Covey mentioned something related to what you're saying. That people act (either proactively or reactively) based on certain goals. For a lot of people, this goal is to make more money. For another lot, it's to try looking good and avoid looking bad (according to the environment). But he said the most successful type, is the one who acts according to his principles, despite the kind of environment or peer pressure he's facing. That is, if something conflicts his princples, don't do it, and if something doesn't, then do it.

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