Do you know the movie Yes Man?
It's about a guy who decides to say "yes" to every opportunity that comes his way. At first, it's chaotic and a bit reckless but over time, it opens doors he never even knew existed. New people. New skills. A completely different life.
About a year ago, I realized I needed something like that.
I felt stuck in a strange place - both overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. I had ambition, ideas, and energy, but I wasn't really moving forward. I was overthinking everything, questioning whether I was "ready," and subconsciously saying no to opportunities before they even had a chance to challenge me.
Then came a simple moment: I said yes to an Oracle internship.
It wasn't some perfectly calculated decision. In fact, I wasn't even sure I was good enough. But that one "yes" turned out to be a starting point.
Thinking in Graphs
If you're into computer science like me, here's how I started thinking about it:
Life is a graph.
Most people stay in a very small part of it - the nodes they already know. But the only way to explore the graph is to start traversing it.
Saying "yes" is like running BFS (Breadth-First Search). You explore widely. You expose yourself to new nodes, new directions and new possibilities.
Then, when you find something interesting - something that clicks - you switch to DFS (Depth-First Search). You go deeper and you build something meaningful.
But none of that happens if you never take the first step.
The First Yes Is the Hardest
I was scared.
I didn't think I had enough skills. I thought other people were more prepared, more talented, more "deserving." At the same time, I had this constant feeling that I could do more - but I wasn't acting on it.
That’s the worst combination: having ambition, but not acting on it.
Saying yes broke that pattern for me.
Not because it made me confident overnight (damn I wish) but because it forced me into situations where I had to grow.
What Changed for Me
After that first yes, things started compounding.
I said yes to:
- a random hackathon that opened up a new chapter in my life
- meeting new people I would normally avoid
- taking part in an angel investing club
- pitching ideas in front of VC funds
- projects that felt slightly out of reach
- joining the University of Passau
Each time, I felt that same hesitation. That same voice saying, "You're not ready."
But I said yes anyway.
Not every experience was amazing. Some were awkward. Some didn't lead anywhere. Some were even painful. But even those expanded my graph.
Growth Through Yes
This post really isn't about blindly saying yes to everything.
It's actually about breaking the habit of saying no out of fear.
Most opportunities don’t look life-changing. In fact, most of them aren’t. They look really inconvenient, uncertain, or uncomfortable.
But that's exactly my point.
Learning and growth doesn't come from optimizing the known. It comes from exploring the unknown and using our past experiences as a foundation.
So What Am I Trying to Say?
Say yes way more often than feels comfortable. Put yourself in rooms where you're not the smartest person.
You don't need a perfect plan to start. You won’t have one.
Become your own Yes Man. Even just for a week.
It might change everything.