Several years ago I had the opportunity to fly with the United States Navy Blue Angels in #7. This highflying opportunity was the end result of accepting an invitation to the Wings Over Houston press conference.
For over 20 years, I had a spectacular career as one of the top rock radio personalities in the country. It all started because of an offer to do an overnight shift at a disco station.
I’ve been weightless in NASA’s “Vomit Comet” aircraft. A unique event that started with a talk I was asked to give to a high school class.
What do these three events, and hundreds of other things I’ve gotten to do, have in common? These experiences materialized because I said one simple word. I said yes. When presented with an opportunity to talk to a group, have lunch, meet someone new, attend a meeting, accept an invitation, volunteer for a charity – I always try to say yes.
I got into radio when I said yes to an audition dare for the student radio station at Texas A&M University. I eventually ended up taking a job as a secretary at a radio station in Houston, Texas. It was a job I absolutely hated but I said yes to get my foot in the door of a major market radio station. When the radio station changed formats from rock ‘n roll to disco, a very dark time in music history, many of the staff decided to quit and move on to other radio stations. I was asked if I would take the midnight to six shift – I said yes.
If I hadn’t said yes to that one job, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today. And I know I wouldn’t have had such a great ride in rock radio, working along side the greatest rock stars in the world for over 20 years.
These days, as a professional performance speaker, I’m often asked to speak for free. Keep in mind, this is what I do for a living now, I pay for food and keep a rook over my head with speeches. Very often, however, there are non-profit organizations, associations and other gatherings who don’t have a budget for speaker. So, more often than not, I try to say yes. I always come away with a new contact, new information and some sort of new experience. Plus, it always gives me an opportunity to try out new material in front of a grateful audience.
When TalkNerdy2Me asked if I would write a blog, I said yes. Now, I want you to always try to say yes. When you do that, the world of opportunities will amaze you.
Rock on!
Dayna Steele is a serial entrepreneur, a media & marketing strategist, a blogger for Fast Company and is the author of Rock to the Top: What I Learned about Success from the World’s Greatest Rock Stars. She travels the world helping grow businesses with her presentation “Find Your Inner Rock Star” and is currently working on two books: 101 Ways to Rock Your World: Things To Do Everyday For Success and I’m With the Band: Networking Rock Star (Network Your Way into Anything Anywhere Anytime!).