In this brief Friday motivational monologue, the speaker shares a personal anecdote about an upbeat Uber driver who, despite experiencing profound family tragedies, chooses to stay positive and keep driving. Using this story, the speaker emphasizes that throughout each day we have the power to choose how we think, feel, focus, and allocate our energy. He argues that intentional daily choices—about thoughts, emotions, focus, and actions—are essential for navigating life’s complexities and distractions. The talk concludes with a call to listeners to decide what they will choose today, framing it as their personal “moment of yes,” and wishes them an uplifting weekend.
Chapters
Good morning, everyone. It's Friday, September 22nd. This is your moment of yes. Back in the Lou, back in St. Louis. Was in Colorado, obviously, at the beginning of the week, and then Atlanta yesterday. Back home last night. Home for a few days. So the moment of yes for today is an idea that we've talked about before, but it's a reminder, Right? It's a reminder that regardless of everything that is going on in your life right now, at the end of the day and at the beginning of the day and throughout all day, it's always about what we choose, right? What we choose, how we choose to respond, how we choose to behave, how we choose to think, how we choose to feel. Clearly, feelings and all those things that can come up. Our choice is what are we going to focus on? where are we going to put our attention? Where are we going to put our energy? And I was reminded of that, you know, um, in Atlanta. Had like a 45-minute Uber ride from the airport to the hotel, and, um, the woman was driving me, and, you know, she was, you know, super chippy and— not chippy, she wants to fight me. She was really cheery, uh, upbeat, and, um, she was, you know, like, she was a talker. So I was like, oh, okay. So it was clear right away, like, I'm not, you know, like, I'm just not gonna rest or get things done. I have to be fully engaged, which I was. And in that span of time, right, I end up here. And like, she looks younger than me, and she's a grandmother. She's got 8 kids. And, you know, she goes on to tell me that her husband was killed 8 years ago, right, in a car accident. And she lost her oldest daughter a few years before that in a car accident. And she's giving me The details, the unasked-for details, um, of, of both events. And, you know, of course I'm just there and, uh, extremely sympathetic and just listening and listening and listening. But she just, as she talks about it, right, she just talks about how she has, you know, kept going and what she focuses on and how she loves driving because it gets her out of the house and, and, um, You know, she hasn't even moved closer to the kids because she loves— she just loves doing this. And it just reminded me as I then spoke to a group of, you know, professionals the next day about, you know, we choose. We choose. There's so much going on in our life. Life is complex. There's so much good. There's so much bad. There's so much tough stuff. There's so much everything. So many distractions. That's why it's so important for us to be intentional about what we're going to wake up each day and choose. What we're going to choose for our thoughts, what we're going to choose for our emotions, what we're going to choose to focus on, give our time, give our energy to. Because if we just wait for everything to be perfect, it's just not going to happen. But if we wake up every morning and find the perfect, It's going to be there waiting for us. So what are you going to choose today? That's your moment of yes. Have an awesome Friday. Have an awesome weekend, everybody.
