Yes Sayers are Rewarded by Adventure, No Sayers are Rewarded by Safety

Improv veteran Keith Johnstone shares:

There are people who prefer to say "Yes," and there are people who prefer to say "No." Those who say "Yes" are rewarded by the adventures they have, and those who say "No" are rewarded by the safety they attain. There are far more "No" sayers around than "Yes" sayers, but you can train one type to behave like the other.

I can't help but put pressure on myself to be a yes-sayer. Perhaps it's the vague belief that saying yes will lead to a fuller life and range of experiences and that saying "no" is the easy option. And somehow, the easy option in my mind can seem like the wrong option. That's why I liked Keith Johnstone's framing for yes-sayers and no-sayers, as it clearly shows the rewards for taking either route in a decision, not just one.

If you are improvising, saying yes and accepting offers takes you to situations that may not feel comfortable but give you new experiences.

Saying no keeps you where you are. Your situation is known and safe, and you feel good for that reason.

In life, we never have to be exclusively yes or exclusively no. And it doesn't have to be white-water kayaking for yes-sayers and reading books at home for no-sayers. But certainly, there are different joys in each path. I love both: the nerves and excitement of new experiences and the comfort and safety of the known and predictable. We needn't bucket ourselves into one or the other.

An adventure, even a microadventure, almost by definition, is the result of saying yes. And, like Type II fun, it can be rewarding and fulfilling. But balancing adventure with the safety and calm of staying in one's comfort zone at times feels nice to me.

Related Ideas to Yes Sayers, No Sayers

And more improv:

• Accept offers
• Be spontaneous
• Microadventure
• The bandwagon effect
• Only dead fish go with the flow
• "The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces"—in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures

Abraham Maslow, known for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, shared:

"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again."

The quote is from Keith Johnstone's book Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, Theatre Arts Books, 1979, as quoted in Improv Wisdom by Patricia Ryan Madson.