What is the role of a salesperson, therapist, physician, home builder, friend, clergyman, or any other person you go to for assistance?

The answer I come up with is to present options: courses of action either unknown to the seeker or not considered important enough for them to act on in the past.

“What are my options?” is a productive question to have in our “go bag” when things aren’t going our way.

Exploring options, either on your own or with the help of others, takes a hard peppercorn and grinds it down to countless flakes. The more options you create, the more angles of view will present themselves to you.

We tend to look at options as a binary choice: either it’s “this” or “that.” I remember asking someone how I could go from A to B. His answer was eye-opening. He said, “the better question is, ‘how do I go from A to infinity?'”

Flexibility is the trait that opens you up to more options. Standing pat with “tried and true” keeps your stick in the mud and your head in a dark place. I’m reminded of a Grasshopper quote from years ago: “When your head is up your ass and you finally open your eyes, you’re still in the dark.”

There aren’t a lot of options in dimly lit situations. Becoming more flexible keeps the light switch in reach, illuminating a wider range of possibilities.

Here’s an exercise to become more flexible: say, “Yes” more often than you do now and reserve “No” for situations where “No” means “No.”

“Yes” not only makes you more flexible, it puts more options on the table.

All the best,

John