Make Every Decision a Hell Yeah

There is no award for being too busy or overwhelmed.

There isn’t a crown bestowed for getting the least amount of sleep.

Nope. You won’t receive a prize for keeping 47 tabs on your computer open and your to-do list at a constant 422 tasks.

Don’t misunderstand – I get the hustle. In fact, I love the hustle.

But there is something beautiful to be said about honoring YOU.

A few years ago, I found myself at the bottom of a chasm, looking at a slice of blue sky, wondering how to claw myself out from underneath the chaos, the go-go-go, the constant cycle of ‘must-do’. I was so run-down, I ended up breaking my face.

True story.

This is a topic I’ve spoken about dozens of times, but somehow never put it right here for you (and for me) as a reminder to prioritize, to keep myself and my sanity firmly within the life equation.

It was legitimately a ‘light bulb moment’. And by this, I would like you to picture a cartoon bubble and ‘a-ha – YES!’ floating above my head.

I was in the middle of seven weeks of traveling for my very first book tour. It was magical and exhausting, inspiring and overwhelming.

The book, Mom Incorporated – A Guide to Business and Baby – offered a practical guide for starting a business while raising a family. Within the book, you’d find tips and tricks, our personal journey and we featured women from all over who had done it. Whenever we were in a city with one of those women, we invited them to speak with us.

In Boston, our friend Laura Fitton joined us. While speaking, she shared her light bulb moment – which turned in to mine as well. She was quoting a blog post by a writer – Derek Sivers. He had written, “If it isn’t a hell yeah, it’s a no“.

I sat there for a few moments mulling over the words…turning them over and over in my brain. The air in the room disappeared for me as I processed the number of commitments, obligations, jobs and meetings that fell outside of ‘hell yeah’ for me.

At the moment, Hell Yeah became a guiding mantra for me.

Let’s say it again:

If it isn’t a Hell Yeah, it’s a NO.

I realized every single time I said yes to something that wasn’t right for me, it was the project I was still working on at 2am, because it just wouldn’t flow. It was the task I was forcing in to my schedule and sacrificing what I needed and loved to do. It was the lunch I’d promised, but was dreading. These ‘yesses’ took the time and space of the tasks, jobs, and moments that filled my soul.

And that just isn’t ok.

You are not obligated to say yes to every client.

You are not beholden to every request for your time. If volunteering to be class mom for your first grader puts a huge smile on your face, do it. When you know you absolutely do not have time to count, cut and bag 25,000 Box Tops for your kid’s school, and you know you will find yourself with blisters at midnight trying to make the mailing deadline, it is perfectly FINE to politely decline.

If you know a client will not value you or your time, believe in your gifts and say no.

Live outside a place of scarcity. Know that this ‘no’ gives you all the room, the time, and the mental energy to focus on and be available for that Hell Yeah that is coming your way.

Every time you allow yourself to say no to anything less, (and in turn YES to that HELL YEAH) you are recognizing that you are enough – you are valuing your time, your heart and your true goals.

I even had a Word of the Year bracelet created as a reminder.

That was years ago.

This year? I tasked my talented friend Lucrecer to paint it for me at the beginning of the year as a reminder. It hangs in my office so I see it each day as I walk in to the room.

I wish I could tell you I was perfect at this, but I’m not. I’m always a work in progress, but I’m willing to keep working to make myself and my dreams  a priority.