Another One of My Favorite Words

Not too long ago I wrote about how one of my favorite words is “and”.  There’s another one I’d like to add to the list:

Yet.

I’m not talking about when you use “yet” as a substitute for “but”, as in, “I really want to do this thing, and yet….”

I’m talking about when you use it at the end of a sentence.

I’ll give you an example.

I was talking with a freelance writer friend yesterday. We were having a little telephone pow-wow about work and life. And she mentioned that she was writing a bunch of stories on topics that interested her, but that didn’t pay much. And she was kind of thinking that maybe she’d have to give up on her dream of writing about these subjects that were near to her heart because they were too much work for too little money.

I asked, “Is it possible that you write about these subjects and earn more money?”

She said no. And then she paused for a moment and revised that. “Well, I haven’t found a way to cover this stuff and earn decent money.”

This is the perfect occasion to slip in the word “yet.”

Imagine the difference in your mind when you can manage to say: “I haven’t found a way to do this thing that I really want to do and have it work out to my advantage….yet.”

When you can add those three little letters to the end of a sentence, you crack open a sliver of possibility in your mind. It takes you from writing something off as impossible, which means you’ll keep an eye open for opportunities. Opportunities that you would probably look right past if you had told yourself that what you wanted could never work.

Adding yet to the end of declarative sentences appeases the logical mind and gives the heart some space to make its wishes known.

I don’t make six figures, yet.

I haven’t done anything about starting that business I’ve been dreaming about, yet.

I mean, listen, adding yet to the end of your sentences isn’t going to instantly make all your dreams come true. But it is a great and powerful first step to trusting those visions that feel almost dangerous or insane to believe in.

Try it, and see. What sentences could you add yet to the end of? I’d love to hear them in the comments section below!