Yes or No

The answer is either Yes or No

If you’ve read a few of my stories, you may have noticed that I know how not to do things. I know exactly what it feels like to fail. I’ve taken almost every dead-end road life has offered me, and I’ve messed up both in my job and relationships more than enough times.

But you know what’s great about it? Slowly but surely, I’ve been through it all, and there’s not much left that can knock me down. And if it’s true that experience makes you rich, then I’m a millionaire. In this post, I share an important realization with you, based on years of failures, dead-ends, and repeatedly falling flat on my face. It’s foolproof, 100 percent true, tested and verified countless times:

When you’re faced with a decision, and your “Yes” to a choice you make isn’t a 100 percent “Yes”, then it’s a NO!

Why is that?

The compromises I’ve made with myself in the past have always come back to haunt me sooner or later: “The job is alright? I’ll do it. It’s fine.” But in the end, I gave much more than it brought to me and others. Another example: “This woman suits me well!” Just well? That’s a No!

Because, firstly, I will unconsciously try to change her, and secondly, I won’t put in the effort for our shared life that I would with 100 percent. Admittedly, the experiences with her are beautiful. Some moments can be fantastic, and the sky is full of flowers.

But in the end, we all grow older, and after 80 or 90 years, this life is over. Do I really want to have entered into all these compromises with which I was only half happy and never really lived life to the fullest? Admittedly, there are situations where you have to make 70 or 80 percent decisions, especially professionally. But I can align each of these decisions with my 100 percent and make them a part of it.

You can’t go 100 percent? Yes, you can. Here are two examples: Markus Mensch and Matthew Mockridge.

What’s your take on this? Write it in the comments.