In this brief motivational talk titled “A Moment of YES: August 19th,” the speaker reflects on a recent conversation with the Saint Louis University (SLU) men’s soccer team about “neutral thinking.” A graduate transfer player from Nigeria, who previously played at Yale, asks whether neutral thinking means suppressing emotions. The speaker clarifies that neutral thinking does not eliminate emotions; rather, it involves acknowledging feelings while preventing them from dictating decisions. He explains that one can feel anger, excitement, frustration, or confusion, yet still assess a situation neutrally and choose the best response. The speaker connects this to the broader “yes thinking” philosophy: accepting whatever is happening, regardless of emotional state, and then moving forward with action. He emphasizes that lingering in emotion blocks progress, whereas acceptance and neutral assessment enable swift, effective responses. The talk concludes with an encouraging weekend wish, urging listeners to apply these concepts to their own lives.
Chapters
Good morning, everyone. Here's your moment of yes for Friday, August 19th. Hopefully you have something interesting planned this weekend. So last night I was talking to the SLU men's soccer team, talking about the concept of neutral thinking and, and being able to shift to neutral, looking at things from a less judgmental standpoint so that we can quickly choose our response. So I had this long conversation about it. After the talk, one of the players came up. This is a grad transfer student. He graduated from Yale, played soccer at Yale. Now he's at SLU for the year. He's from Nigeria. This awesome poetry writing student. And he came up and he's like, so neutral thinking, I like the concept, I like the idea, but does that mean that I'm not supposed to have emotion? And I was like, oh. He goes, because I can see some of the players taking that away from the talk, that they're not supposed to have emotions. So I was like, oh no, no, no, no, no, that's a great question, great clarification. And I have since clarified with, with the team, neutral thinking is not about having emotions. The difference is when we shift to neutral, we're not letting our emotions make the decisions, right? I can be highly charged, I can be angry, I can be excited, I can be frustrated, I can be confused, all of the emotions I can feel. But when I'm looking at things neutrally, I'm not letting emotions rule the day, right? I'm— I can be emotional and still look at the situation and then choose the best response. Now, granted, the higher my emotions, the harder it's going to be to get neutral. But it's not about removing our emotions. It's recognizing that it's less about our emotions and more about what action or step do I need to take next. Huge clarification. Um, and so I thought, wow, that might be a helpful concept for you all as well, because when we talk about yes and thinking, it's the same thing. Yes is accepting whatever is happening regardless of whatever emotions you're feeling, right? Breaking down on the side of the road, you can be angry and upset about it, and you can accept it really quickly and move on to choosing the best response. But if we only just focus on the emotion and stay in the emotion, that is preventing us from taking the next action or step. Is that helpful? I thought it was helpful. I hope it's helpful to you. And hopefully it'll help you— help you— help you. H-E-L-P-U, right? It'll help you move into the weekend. All right. That's your moment of yes for today. Have an awesome weekend, everybody.
