Say Yes to most things

One of the things I'm trying to improve this year is saying Yes to opportunities.

Last year, I took this Steve Jobs quote way too seriously:

Perhaps a bit too much.

Anything that didn't seem to serve a purpose was a hard no. Any meetings that didn't optimize some area of life was a harder no.

Random catchups? Nah bro, "but what about my to-do list?"

But I've come around to thinking differently.

Remember when we were kids? We would just do things for the sake of it. And most of it would be F*cking Around and Finding Out. No productivity metrics. No ROI calculations. Just pure curiosity and fun.

And I'm not alone. Look around—we're all stuck in this optimization trap:

• Calendars that look like a game of Tetris

• Productivity apps that shame us for 'empty' time

• Life reduced to metrics and KPIs

It's funny how we praise entrepreneurs for failing fast and learning but won't give ourselves the same permission in life.

For that to happen again, our inner adventurer needs to come out and play. We have to say yes to things and increase our surface area toward action.

Now, you don't need me to say this: it's not a throwaway yes to everything—we still need to be smart about saying no to stuff we know won't resonate.

But this year? I'm saying yes to more in-real-life catch-ups. More coffee meetups, breakfast, lunch, dinners, and comedy shows with friends and interesting folks.

Today, I went for lunch with friends I hadn't seen in months. One of them I hadn’t seen in 20 years. And it was great. No agenda. No purpose. Just people, food, and life happening.

Funny thing? I almost didn't go. "Traffic, far away," I thought.

But my friend works at UnitedHealthcare, and ended up sharing a touching, human perspective about the recently murdered CEO Brian Thompson—stories you'll never get from the media. Things you can't plan for. Stories you can't schedule.

I'm not saying every random catch-up will give you profound insights into major news events. But every conversation holds the possibility of teaching you something when you least expect it.

And I think that's the point.

The real magic isn't in optimizing every moment. It's about letting some moments happen and just being.

So here's to more yeses.

To F*cking Around and Finding Out.

To life happening between the hustle, bustle and making more money to buy things we don't need.