Human nature tends to have us saying no a lot more than we say yes to things in life these days. For some reason we have lost that crazy feeling we had when we were young that allowed us not to over think and to go with the flow. Today we are scheduled and often overscheduled to the hilt, need a calendar to keep up with our calendar, have to do lists everywhere, and we need to have an agenda and know every minute detail before we will say yes to things. What happened to doing things on the spur of the moment and do we really understand what that term means anymore?

Don’t get me wrong, as a business owner we need to have structure in place but there are times in our carefully planned world where we need to have some flexibility to take advantage of a moment in time when it is offered up and you really want to say yes! I recently heard a great story about a fellow who was invited to join a group of individuals on a once in a lifetime trip to Thailand with only a week and a half notice. His safe and customary go to place was to say ‘no, I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money and I just can’t make it work’. Instead, something inside of him clicked in and he decided to throw all of the reasons he could not go out the window and focus on all of the reasons why he could. He said yes and the next thing I knew we were watching him on video straddled across the back of an elephant, with a huge smile on his face while all the time he was praying he would not fall off!

Here are 5 plans I have put in place to make to sure I stay on track to make my YES year a reality.

1. Leveraging technology

With all of today’s technological advancements a business owner can virtually run their business from just about anywhere in the world. I have integrated a number of things into running my business so that when an opportunity arises I can set up shop anywhere at a moment’s notice.

2. An ‘investment’ mentality vs. a ‘cost’ mentality

I choose to look at new opportunities in terms of what my investment will bring me instead of what it will cost me. You have to spend money to make money in business and it takes planning.

3. The right team in place

To go and grow a business you have to invest in a team of the right individuals. I am adding new members to my team this year that have been carefully chosen for their skill sets and for the roles they will be taking on.

4. Investment in backroom systems and processes

To succeed in business today automation is a must have, not a nice to have. An efficiently automated backroom will allow me to create a stream of passive income that will be coming in while I sleep.

5. A business coach and a plan in place

Working with my coach to help me implement my business plan allows me to focus, build contingency plans, monitor cash flow, build reserves, plan for growth and expansion, and most importantly be able to say yes to new opportunities and have some fun along the way.

Running at Mach 1 with one’s hair on fire will never allow anyone to say yes because they will always be putting out fires!

What are your plans to make sure that you will be able to say Yes this year?

I would love to have you share!