The POWER OF YES! in Claiming What You Believe

The Story

2017 was an amazing year both professionally and personally. I celebrated 20 years with my amazing wife who, if it were not for, I would be completely crazy. (Thank you, Carla, for who you are to me and for everything you do for me.) As a parenting team, we saw lots of firsts for both of our children and got to enjoy some special times together. In September, I joined North Star Receivers and met a fantastic group of guys who have changed my life for the better. I also published a book called The Power of Yes! in Innovation! If you know me, you’ll know this is a true miracle within itself. (Thank you, Steve, for all of your hard work in pushing me to get this project over the finish line.) The Nason Group experienced tremendous growth and impact, including team members coming and going.

What I Learned And What You Can Learn

Throughout all of the events of 2017, I had a little voice in my head saying, “Shawn, what do you really believe?” That voice kept challenging me to be a better person for my wife, kids, friends, and business partners. To respond to this nagging voice, I gathered the Nason Group team towards the end of the year and asked, “What exactly do we believe?” Something magical happened next. We hacked away at the question and, many iterations later, we have a set of We Believe statements that will help us move into the future together. We even brought in our partners to help us frame the statements so that the statements speak to the essence of who we are as the Nason Group. So, here they are:

We Believe . . .

• The best thought solutions don’t always have to be complicated.
• Using know me, surprise me, and make it easy will reconstruct the customer experience.
• Disruption is healthy and necessary for growth and leads to new ideas that change the world (your world).
• Ideas that are radical enough to change lives require a space for teams to create, develop, test, and implement.
• Engaging consumers’ stories and voices are mission critical when exploring new ideas and the ONLY way to do business well.
• Figuring out the right questions to ask takes time and energy.
• With the POWER OF YES! anything is possible.

Working as a team to create these statements led me to a deeper understanding of the difference between doing and being. For too long, I’ve been caught up in the doing without spending enough time working on a foundation of being. Maybe you’ve been in the same boat?

What I Did And What You Can Do

In December, I spent a retreat weekend with my group from the North Star Receivers. Throughout the weekend, we examined at our lives and challenged each other to engage some hard questions, which led to even more clarity about my beliefs. My challenge for you this week is to do the same. Take some time to claim what you BELIEVE through these questions:

• What conversations do I need to have?
• What relationships do I need to address, let go of, or heal?
• What activities do need to stop doing?
• What activities do I need to start doing?
• What am I going to do about “me” time?
• What support do I need and what support am I open to receiving?
• What is my mantra and brand that I want to live out?
• What’s the impact I want to have in the world?

Enjoy!