“The word is yes. Yes, yes, yes. Say it a million times. Say it a million more, and the word you would have said two million times would be?” Crowd: “Yes!”
– Terrence Bundley from the movie Yes Man
One of the most rewarding parts about running Doobert is the connections that I am able to make with people from all walks of life. Volunteers, organizations and other people focused on the same mission of helping animals regularly reach out on to me with requests and offers and I always say YES.
I say YES when they ask me if I will help them.
I say YES when they ask me if I can help promote them.
I say YES even when it seems like a one way offer that will not benefit Doobert.
I say YES to people that volunteer their time and talents to help me continue to grow Doobert.
A large proportion of the people that volunteer to help or to reciprocate for help I provide them never stick around very long so it’s easy to become cynical and to start closing down and not accepting new offers. And while you should always be cognizant of your time and talents when saying YES, I’m here to tell you that YES is still the way to go.
While many of the connections I have made from saying YES have not turned into long-term relationships, the ones that have far surpass the time and effort wasted on the ones that did not pan out. As an example, a few weeks back I was contacted by someone offering to put together training videos for new animal rescue relay transporters and she was asking whether I would be interested this. Of course I immediately said YES even though there was that little devil on my shoulder whispering that “She’ll probably never end up sending anything. You’re wasting your time.” But I ignored the nay-sayer and said YES and slowly came to realize that the woman that was offering to help was not some fly-by-night newbie, but a veterinarian with over 20 years of experience and a published author with now two books that help animal rescues and shelters, and the general public to understand and speak dog language.
Dr. Lynne Swanson wrote “Learning Dog” which is targeted at animal rescues and animal shelters, and “Smile! and other practical life lessons your dogs can teach you (while you are training them)” which is geared towards EVERYONE. And in case you’re wondering, YES Dr. Lynne definitely came through with the videos and training and they are so good that I’m adding them to the new welcome email for Doobert volunteers. You can check them out below if you are interested.
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Part 1: https://youtu.be/91wgntje1Xc
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Part 2: https://youtu.be/vGRoGcF-v3g
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Part 3: https://youtu.be/kyjTbIeH93o
I’d also highly recommend checking out Dr. Lynne’s books as all of the profits go right back into rescue. www.learningdog.us and www.givesmiles.us
So just me saying YES one time opened a door that will help the 16,000 volunteers that we support through Doobert to learn from her decades of experience. Just saying YES has started me on the path to a new friendship and relationship with a renowned expert in animal behavior and someone that I plan to keep in touch with regularly.
When was the last time you said YES? When was the last time you took a chance on a new relationship?
