Many of us lead extremely busy lives. We have many obligations that we must fulfill at home, work,
at our children's school, in our ministry and in the community. It may be routine for us to go non stop from the time we get up in the morning until we crawl our way into bed at night. Some of us may find that skipping meals is a norm for us. We are simply just too busy to eat. If we do some genuine self reflection, we may discover that one of the reasons we may feel unbalanced is because we have developed the Yes Habit.
There are many causes that makes us predisposed to developing the Yes Habit. Some of us instinctively say Yes because we have to need to please others. We are wired to believe that it is our purpose in life to ensure everyone around us has their needs met, that they are happy and content. We somehow relate our feelings of self worth with pleasing others. In the long run, this approach to personal fulfillment can leave us worn out, unsatisfied and bitter.
Some of us develop the Yes Habit because we feel that we should be constantly being doing something. We believe that our personal productivity is connected to running from task to task; barely coming up from air. We commit calendar congestion and overcrowd our schedules. Our self worth is related to our busyness.
I challenge each of us to take an inventory of our time and how many times we are saying yes over the next two weeks. We may be surprised to find that we have the Yes Habit and don't even know it! As with any habit, consciousness of having the Yes Habit is the starting point to breaking this habit.
There will be additional articles in this series. We will examine what the Yes Habit costs us, how to break the habit, and the benefits of breaking the Yes Habit. I hope you join me as we examine in detail how the Yes Habit impacts our sense of balance and personal fulfillment. Stay tuned.
This is such a true post and it's great that you open this converation. Many of us don't even realize we have the habit until it has gotten the best of us.
I'm always striving for the balance to say yes to me as much as I do to others. I love to give, and it is important for me to have something to give!
I'll stay tuned.
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea Phillips | December 05, 2012 at 09:03 AM