YIN energy and YANG energy. Two very different approaches.
Yin energy is known as female energy, but that’s a misnomer. Men and women all have yin and yang energy.
YANG VOICES SAY
- We need to make a decision fast. Tell me now.
- Hustle hard. Hustle harder.
- Who has an idea? Great idea, let’s go!
- No excuses. Ever.
- Expand your influence. Reach more people.
- Problems are solved with logic, data and technology.
- I’ll give you a manual or a class to show you what to do.
- Stop being so emotional. That is inappropriate. This is work.
- Let’s celebrate by doing this big fun thing.
- I made this awesome thing. Don’t you love it?
YIN VOICES SAY
- I can wait while you decide. I trust you.
- I don’t define my success by how hard I work.
- Let’s hear from everyone first.
- I’m sorry. I messed that up. Let’s try again.
- Focus on serving the people on front of us now — we will grow naturally if we do that.
- Problems are solved with creativity and responsivity.
- I’ll do it with you.
- Is see you have a lot of emotion. What is that about? Tell me more.
- How do you like to celebrate?
- Let’s build something together. What are your ideas?
The goal is not to be more of one or the other. The goal is to have balance. To fully develop both.
When we have balance we can use what serves the situation. We can bend and flow with the needs of people and problems that arise.
My life has been dominated by YANG energy. If I wanted to be seen, heard or valued, I needed to push into my yang side. The funny thing is, my best successes have come from me sneakily using my yin side while playing inside the yang game.
I want more yin influences in my life. I want to see yin voices in places of power and leadership. I want to develop my own yin-ness.
Not because yin is better. Because yin is nearly absent in so many important places.
Yin is seldom seen in leadership. Yin is absent in discussions of entrepreneurship. Yin is lacking in business and politics. It is nearly impossible to find a Yin mentor.
Yin voices are not loud enough (by nature of being yin and not loud and aggressive) and are literally not noticed in the clamor of this uber yang world.
Yin is not being seen and is not being developed — and that lack is apparent in the places we all get stuck again and again.
Western culture desperately needs an infusion of yin voices and influence. That begins by valuing and seeking out the yin.
