Getting to NO

NO.

One word, two letters often stop the faint minded right where they are and they give up often never to try again. What makes this scenario so damaging is that those around them hear the story over and over again as they repetitively re-play their NO and what happened and how unfair it was like a iPod stuck on repeat. That one red letter word, no, becomes the rationalized excuse over a lifetime for not getting to yes. Enough already-move on.

“You’ll never see the great things ahead of you if you keep looking at the bad things behind you.” ~Alvin

The achiever takes a completely different approach, they move. Achievers get busy creating new pathways or finding other solutions. The accomplishment-minded accept the NO as information to learn what else is possible. Achievers don’t give up after the first n0, after the second no nor after the fifth no. Real firm minded achievers work hard to get a yes and they often don’t stop until they get it.

Einstein heard no. Edison heard no over and over again. John Barry and Norm Larsen heard no thirty nine (39) times before they perfected WD40 (thus the name). Janet Harmon Bragg heard no nearly everyday but became the first African-American female pilot anyway. It takes stubborn tenacity, firm conviction, and oftentimes creative maneuvering to reach a goal.

It is likely that you will hear the word “no” more than the word “yes” in your lifetime. Researchers cite studies validating that no is usually the first word a baby learns and speaks. What’s up with that?

No is a word, so what; celebrate getting to no. Instead of lingering in doubt or accepting no as a defeat – take getting a no and begin fresh with powered energy to a yes. Build your determination to turn an obstacle into an opportunity. “Obstacles are only opportunities to succeed or fail; how we handle them determines what will happen.” ~ James Caan

Opportunities require work, but they are omnipresent. You can tap an opportunity anytime and almost anywhere it just depends on how deep is your thirst for success. Each day opens with opportunity, never forget that. What the majority of people do is settle in and take their mind and eyes off focus, so opportunities pass right by. Others are not determined enough, not hungry enough to find a different solution. The noise of “no” is so programmed in the social conversation that you may just accept no as par for the course, don’t!

What if Jessica Jackley and Matt Flannery (the founders of Kiva) had given up when naysayers told them their idea was unreasonable and spoke the dreaded word NO? What if Aung San Suu Kyi had succumbed after one day of house arrest in Burma? What if Jay-Z and Russell Simmons or Josh Stone or Adele stopped recording or never made it to a recording studio because someone told them “NO?“

What if you are told “no” today or tomorrow? Will you stop, will you give up your dream, will you throw away your goal? You had better not! Ask yourself, what would the world miss if I failed to get to yes?

“You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.” ~ George Patton

Expect getting to no. Our minds are so conditioned to expecting "yes" answers for most requests that when you hear the word no it becomes confounding. Plan for getting a no and immediately go into Kennedy Space Center rocket launch motion and begin your blast off into the vista of “yes.”

No means yes to the achiever-get to yes!