My biggest fear was cats.
And I don’t mean “oh they’re creepy” fear.
I mean heart-thumping, palm-sweating, get-me-outta-here fear.
But on this 100 Days of Say Yes Experiences journey, I said YES to facing it.
Yep—I said yes to a cat.
When I pet it, I breathed through it. I sat with the fear instead of sprinting from it.
And guess what? Nothing major happened. It didn’t scratch me. It didn’t bite me.
Fast forward to a mud run I did with B (my son) and a couple of twenty-somethings hyping us up.
We hit the monkey bars—simple enough, right?
Turns out, it wasn’t just the fear of cats that had a grip on me.
It was the fear of fear itself.
And that fear? It was showing up in sneaky ways I didn’t even realize.
Fast forward to a mud run I did with B (my son) and a couple of twenty-somethings hyping us up.
We hit the monkey bars—simple enough, right?
But suddenly, this voice crept in:
“You’re not strong enough.”
“You’ll fall.”
“You’ll embarrass yourself.”
What I thought was just a physical challenge turned into a mental one.
A sneaky, quiet fear disguised as “just don’t try.”
But with B cheering, and these two twenty-year-olds shouting, “You got this!”
I jumped up.
I swung.
I FLEW.
And I felt ALIVE.
Here’s the truth:
Some fears scream at you. Others whisper.
And it’s the whispers that do the most damage… because you don’t even know they’re holding you back.
So here’s your moment:
🛑 Pause.
Ask yourself:
What are the small fears I’ve accepted as truth?
What am I avoiding—because I’m afraid I’ll fail, fall, or flounder?
Then…
✅ Do ONE thing that scares you this week.
It doesn’t have to be swinging on monkey bars.
Maybe it’s speaking up in that meeting.
Maybe it’s signing up for that class.
Maybe it’s just saying YES to something that makes your heart race a little.
Because that’s what The Say Yes Experience is all about:
Getting out of your comfort zone…
And into the places where you find your confidence, your courage, and your connection.
Fear shrinks when you show up.
So go show up.
Swing anyway.
Say yes.
What do you want to Say Yes to? Share it with us, and you might be selected to join us on our next Say Yes Experience.
Follow our 100 Days of Say Yes Experiences, click here to not miss a day.
ABOUT JESSICA:
Jessica Rector is on a mission to help others truly live.
CEO of The Say Yes Experience and Founder of Burnoutable, the first comprehensive SaaS platform to prevent and end burnout, Jessica empowers you to get out of your comfort zone and into possibilities, so you can break through burnout and tackle your negative thoughts to turn them into positive action and bigger outcomes!
Through our research, we consult with companies and train teams to create a culture that no one wants to leave by enhancing mental wellness and preventing burnout. They have worked with clients such as Scotiabank, NBCUniversal, the Dallas Mavericks, and Fortune’s #2 “Best Company to work for.”
As a #1 best-selling author of 12 books, Jessica has been interviewed on NBC for her research and work on burnout. As an HR.com Future of Employee Well-Being Advisory Board Member, Jessica helps to change the conversation around burnout and mental health with senior leaders and executives.
When she is not traveling around the world for work, Jessica enjoys creating more Say Yes experiences, while learning about the exciting world of Transformers, so she can carry on real conversations with her CFO, Chief Fun Officer, her twelve-year-old son, Blaise, who is also a #1 best-seller author and the youngest published author in the United States.
Get Jessica’s recent books, The Say Yes Experience: 52 tips to Prevent Burnout and Enhance Your Mental Health and Blaze Your Brain to Extinguish Burnout: 52 Tip to Prevent, Break Through and Eliminate Burnout at jessicarector.com. Connect with her on LinkedIn by CLICKING HERE.
