My kids play the most annoying game ever created. The game is called “No means Yes and Yes means No.” If you haven’t played this game before, you aren’t missing out on much. The funny thing is I used to play the same game as a kid.
Essentially it works like this, you ask the other person something such as “Do you have a girlfriend?” the person will answer “No”, which essentially means “Yes.” Get it?
As a kid I used to play this game until I got into trouble, then I would push the boundary just a little bit more to see what my parents would do. Needless to say, I always ended up losing the game.
But watching my kids play this game got me thinking… what if we played this game with ourselves as adults? This simple concept of “No means Yes and Yes means No” could help us do the things that we know we should do but don’t want to do.
Let’s check out some examples of how this game could work.
“Yes I want to eat another piece of cake” - Yes means No so no cake for me
“No I don’t want to stay up and complete my homework” - No means Yes so I must grind it out
“Yes I want to go back to sleep this morning” - Yes means No so I have to get out of bed and start rocking the day
“No I don’t want to do that presentation because I am scared to fail” - No means Yes so I will deliver the presentation and the energy on the stage.
“Yes I want to play victim and blame others for my problems” - Yes means No so today I will take personal responsibility for every circumstance I am in
“No I don’t want to go for a jog today, I will do it tomorrow” - No means Yes so I have to jog today no matter.
“Yes I want to spend another hour watching The Bachelorette” - Yes means No so I have to do something else that is actually productive in life
“No I don’t want to plan out my future and set goals" - No means Yes so I better start thinking of what I want to achieve before I start down the wrong path.
You get the point.
There are so many times where I don’t feel like working out or reading or smiling at another person or holding a door open for a stranger or waking up early…But I do it. If I don’t want to do something even though I know it is beneficial to me, I know I must do it even more.
This is one of my secrets to motivating myself each day. I challenge myself to show up. I won’t accept disappointing myself as an option.
I hope this simple strategy works for you as it this silly game has turned into a personal mantra of mine.
Boy, I still have so much to learn from my young children…