The Power of Yes

Years ago I took an improvisational comedy class in LA. The first thing we learned was “Yes, and….”

When you’re on stage with no costumes and no props and you’re creating a compelling scene for the audience, it is an essential skill. Imagine your partner begins a scene saying: “Wow! That elephant is wearing a tiara!”

If you then say, “That’s not an elephant, it’s a gorilla!” the audience is confused and no cohesive scene has begun.

If however, your partner says, “Wow! That elephant is wearing a tiara!” and you respond, “Yes, and so is the woman riding him!” then the two of you have begun to create a compelling scene the audience can follow.

“Yes, and…” is useful all the time in almost every conversation. “But” tends to have an off-putting feeling. It tends to negate what came before it. Replacing “but” with “yes, and…” is a great way to maintain rapport and gently lead others to your point of view.

“I agree with you, but let’s look at my idea.”

Much more likely to get a receptive response is: “I agree with you, and let’s look at my idea.”

When you’re working with the law of attraction, “Yes, and…” becomes a handy tool in the toolkit.

The vibration we give off is a soup of everything we habitually think and feel. To see improvements in our life, we need to upgrade what we are thinking and how we are feeling.

I see a lot of people who have read or seen a little about the Law of Attraction trying to repress or suppress negative emotions or undesirable thoughts. I don’t want to think about that, they tell themselves. However, just moving your attention away from something does not take it out of your vibrational soup or the whole of the vibration you are offering. The empowering thing to do is to walk up the emotional scale a little bit at a time so that you leave that thought or that feeling in a more harmonious place.

“Yes, and…” is a powerful way of doing this.

For example, imagine there is someone in your office, or in a networking group who rubs you the wrong way. Whenever you think of him or her, your stomach tightens up, your breath becomes shallower and your thoughts turn angry, resentful or critical. The suppressive or repressive response would be to tell yourself not to think that way, or to try and think of something else quickly. The “Yes, and…” response would begin by acknowledging what you have been feeling.

“Yes, this person is annoying (frustrating, wrong, etc.) AND I have a reaction whenever I see him/her AND I don’t prefer the reaction I have AND I would like to go to the office (or other location) and feel comfortable and good regardless of who is there AND there are other people there who I do enjoy AND I don’t know what this person’s problem is AND it’s not my job to figure it out or change them AND I wonder if as my attitude changes this person will shift AND it would be really great if he/she just went away AND I can imagine this place free of him/her AND I would feel really comfortable there AND I like the opportunity to upgrade my reactions and how I feel AND….”

To summarize, “Yes, and…” is a simple and powerful tool that can be used in any conversation to maintain and improve rapport and to easily get your ideas across. While working with the Law of Attraction, “Yes, and…” is a simple way of shifting your point of attraction on a particular subject simply and easily. The beauty of “Yes, and…” is it acknowledges the starting point, wherever that is, and effortlessly opens the doorway for more. Enjoy!