So, my husband and I were flipping through On Demand last night looking for something interesting to watch, and we finally decided on Yes Man with Jim Carrey. We’re both fans of good ‘ole Jim and figured it would be a light, funny flick. Little did I know that I’d actually take a valuable business lesson away from the viewing.

If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a man named Carl (Jim Carrey’s character) who is constantly turning down opportunities in his personal and professional life. As a result, he watches his wife walk out the door, begins to lose his few remaining friends and misses out on a promotion, keeping him stuck in a dead-end job for another who knows how many years. He finds himself dejected, bitter and hopeless.

Then he runs into an old friend who introduces him to a program that touts “Yes” as the new “No.” On a whim, Carl goes to a seminar and, eyes rolling the whole time, laughs his way through the presenter’s speech. Until the presenter hones in on him as a new guest and pinpoints exactly how pathetic his life has become. In a nutshell, Carl walks away with a new lease on life and begins to turn his “no’s” into “yes’s.” He takes it a bit to the extreme, saying “yes” to every single opportunity that comes across his path, from the slightly uncomfortable to the wildly outrageous (and I’ll just leave it at that…). He finds new friends, rekindles old friendships, gets promoted at work (twice!) and meets a new love interest. He also finds himself in some sticky situations.

In the end, he learns that you have to find a balance between the two, learning to embrace opportunities that are right for you and pass on those that aren’t. But the key is that opening your mind allows you to be open to the possibilities that exist around you so you can make those educated decisions, instead of leading a life that is boxed into the corner, with no hope of going anywhere.

The same is true of business. If you have a rigid set of ideals and never even consider taking risks that fall outside of your comfort zone, you’ll go nowhere fast. At best, your business will remain static, leaving you with enough money to pay the bills but not much else. At worst, you’ll become dissatisfied with your business and your life, leading to career burnout and possibly business failure.

The lesson that I took away is that you have to give yourself permission to take chances and say “yes” to those opportunities that could lead your business to unknown lands. You never know…one of those chance encounters could skyrocket your business to amazing proportions!