10 Perks of Embracing a Brave Yes Mindset as a Business Owner

5 min readMay 8, 2023

Last year, I celebrated 10 years as a creator and entrepreneur and shared 10 Courage Moves I’d made by that point.

This month, I am celebrating 10 years as a full-time business owner and I’m ready to talk a bit more about what I’ve learned about success and courage to still be in this game 10 years later when many of my friends have dropped out.

There’s one thing that I can point all of my success and persistence to … and that’s having a Brave YES Mindset.

There will be many times when you won’t feel certain about your decisions or choices. There will be many times when you feel out of your element.

As a courage coach and strategist for women+ business owners, I specialize in helping to grow your clarity, courage and confidence around everything from your sales system to your marketing campaigns to day-to-day time management and work-life balance. We’re doing things like setting boundaries, changing mindset and motivating you to do the hard things that keep sitting on the backburner.

The Brave YES Mindset is at the root of all of it.

For me, there’s been nothing but advantages to saying YES and living with a YES Mindset rather than a bunch of NOPE. There are times when a Brave NO is necessary and I’ll share more on that soon.

What is a Brave YES Mindset?

In my work as a business coach who pushes her clients to their edges of comfort and courage, the Brave YES Mindset is the work.

I’m sure you’ve heard of a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

Well, it’s kind of like that but … more active. I equate it to growth mindset — but Top Gun Maverick style. It’s much more active and action oriented.

The truth is, when we are redefining our comfort zone and doing things that bring discomfort and work to grow our confidence — as well as visibility and revenue — we tend to focus on the negatives — everything that will go wrong, everything that we suck at, everything that is hard or feels impossible.

Well, that’s one way — a common way — to handle courage work and taking risks.

Through my work and certification in positive psychology and becoming a Dare to Lead™ professional of Brené Brown’s work, I believe that taking a more positive approach to BIG, BOLD work is not only possible but helps us move through it much more easily and peacefully.

To tell you about the Brave YES Mindset, though, we must first talk about your NO brain! I first learned about the Yes Brain and the No Brain from the parenting book “The Yes Brain,” by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

So, let’s talk No Brain … and this is based on my work with adults and not the parenting book though there are absolute similarities and I think we witness NO brain more in adults than children, honestly.

What words can you toss out if I am someone who is a NO brain. Let’s define them together.

The No Brain

CLOSED MINDED
OFTEN SELF-SABOTAGING AND LOSING SIGHT OF YOUR OWN DREAMS AND VISION.
STRUGGLE TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT.
YOU aren’t good enough. Negative thinkers.
Afraid to try new things.
FEAR OF CHANGE
FOCUSED MORE ON TRYING TO PLEASE OTHERS

Have you ever met a NO person? Have you ever been on a committee with a NO person or had a team member who is a NO person? I have been through lots of business coaching sessions helping clients with their NO employees.

HOw many of you are the NO brain in the room? Be honest?

Now, a YES Brain … this is the mindset that gets things done, that plays bigger, that changes things or makes things happen.

The YES Brain

OK, what are some words or phrases YOU would apply to someone with a YES Brain. Open. Learning. Growth.

The Brave YES Mindset is more like a YES Brain …

OPEN-MINDED
ADAPTABLE
NOT AFRAID TO SPEAK UP OR STAND OUT
TAKES RISKS
READY TO TRY NEW THINGS
BENDY, FLEXIBLE
GROWTH MINDSET VS. FIXED

Which do you prefer to lead with? Your YES Brain or No Brain?

A Brave YES Mindset is about being open minded and saying YES to opportunities that bring you alive, that center your thriving, that puts you in the driver seat in your life — but they are challenging, they push you to your edge. They are both scary and liberating. They may lead to feelings of fear and anxiety but are almost always lead to feelings of pride and joy.

Where are you on the Brave YES Mindset spectrum?

When do you need a Brave YES Mindset?

Some of the times when a Brave YES Mindset will serve you well …

When facing a challenging life or work circumstance
When you need to raise your prices or ask for a raise
When you are ready to uplevel or pivot your business because it’s not working for you anymore.
When you are facing burnout, languishing or a feeling of boredom in your life or work
When you are tired of hiding & playing small and not getting the respect you deserve
When you are ready to take yourself and your expertise more seriously

A Brave YES Mindset leads to the VISION. And the Vision leads to the Brave YES Actualizations — the actions to make it happen.

10 Perks of Embracing a Brave YES Mindset

Start living and leading in your power
Enjoy seeing possibility and potential
Embrace your own strengths
Let go of perfectionism
Make decisions based on HEART not EGO and redefine your own comfort zone
Permission to do what feels good rather than what everyone else is doing
Take bold action to create confidence rather than hope for confidence or perfect timing some day
Experience a lot of fun tada’s and wins
Tune into your creativity and soul fire.
Stop searching for answers everywhere outside of you and start tuning in and turning on for your own joy.

Checklist: How to Get Started with a Brave YES Mindset

— Get super clear on what your Brave YES action IS AND create a plan of success.

— Set and strive toward meaningful goals that bring you positive energy and feelings of hope and joy.

— Practice self-compassion and cultivate Unshakeable Resilience. See STRONGER handout.

— Become aware when your NO brain is taking over — and learn how to activate your YES Brain. Being mindful of your thoughts and feelings is key.

— Surround yourself with people you can brainstorm with to expand your perspective and experience. Support is everything when it comes to being courageous. We need each other to be braver.

— Develop a system to track your YESES and WINS — and share those with your supporters & mentors. GOLD stars.

Originally published at https://shawnfink.com on May 8, 2023.