I Use This Turnaround A Lot
The “yahoo” turnaround is a funny kind of turnaround. You take your original stressful thought, put an exclamation point at the end of it, and say, “Yay! How is that a good thing?”
It is especially useful when questioning stressful statements of fact. Sometimes the turnaround to the opposite just isn’t true. You can’t B.S. it.
But the yahoo turnaround allows you to find the good in it even if the statement is true.
I Used This Recently With A Client
She was working the statement, “I am slower than my colleagues at work.” This was stressful for her. And her mind couldn’t stop comparing herself to them.
For example, she takes an hour to write up the minutes from a board meeting. While her colleagues take just ten minutes to do the same task.
When we turned it around, she found some examples of “I am faster than my colleagues at work,” but the examples were not too believable for her. They didn’t hold much weight.
So We Switched To The Yahoo Turnaround
The yahoo turnaround for her statement was, “I am slower than my colleagues at work! Yay! How is that a good thing?”
Immediately, she described the value of her approach to writing the minutes. She sits with her notes, distills the essential content, and organizes it in a way that makes it very easy to read.
She may be a little slower writing her report, but it saves everyone time when referring to it later. So “Yay!” It’s nice to have someone do things slowly!
In Fact, She May Be Faster Overall
We added it up.
She takes an hour to write up the report. Her colleagues take ten minutes. So she’s behind by 50 minutes compared to her colleagues.
But because her reports are so organized, they may save each person who reads them 5-10 minutes over a week’s time. And there are 8-10 people reading these minutes each week.
That’s a total time saving of 40-100 minutes per week for the team, or an average gain of 70 minutes. When you subtract the 50 minutes she’s behind, that actually puts her ahead by 20 minutes compared to her colleagues!
Now The Turnaround To The Opposite Makes Sense
The turnaround to the opposite is “she is faster than her colleagues.” That turns out to be true after all.
But the only reason it’s true is because “she is slower than them,” which is the yahoo turnaround.
Both turnarounds are true. And it was the yahoo turnaround that opened the door to finding this.
I Encourage You Try It Out
The yahoo turnaround is often overlooked, but it can be a powerful way of shifting your perspective. Especially when dealing with facts.
Have a great week,
Todd
“Even devout people have trouble realizing that whatever happens is a good thing. They think that that’s an oversimplification. But how can the simple truth be too simple?” Byron Katie, A Thousand Names For Joy
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