The Fourth Question.

Day 18, y’all, how you holding up?

Today’s entry is short and sweet. A friend came over to mine yesterday, and we spent the afternoon catching up about life, work, and whatever else was floating around our minds. Nothing dramatic, just a warm, easy day with good conversation.

Later, as we stood at the station waiting for her train home, she turned to me and asked a simple question:

“How do you stay so balanced?”

We wandered into a long conversation about habit building and the quiet ways life reshapes us. I told her something I have come to believe deeply:

It sounds backwards, but it’s true.

If you asked me, I’d honestly tell you that clarity rarely arrives at the desk. I find it shows up mostly whilst you’re moving, testing and trying. Things like saying yes to things you would normally rationalise your way out of.

Somewhere in the conversation, as I spoke to her, It just flew out my mouth. A challenge, partly silly, partly serious:

“Every fourth time someone asks you a question, say yes.”

It sounds a little silly, but think about the times you have actually changed. Not the loud reinventions, but the quiet shifts you barely noticed at the time. Think of an area of your life that is different now, for the better. It was never just one big moment.

We often convince ourselves that it is the dramatic decisions that carry us to our dreams, but I am starting to believe it is the tiny, quiet shifts that really steer the ship. The small yes. The slightly different response. The choice you almost did not make.

So why not try this?

Not for a whole season. Not forever. Just tomorrow.

Let it be a small experiment. A tiny tilt in your default settings, and pay attention to what opens up. Heck, open your notes app and document your observations, look at what surprises you and take stock of what pulls you slightly out of your usual orbit, and allow it.

Maybe you will stumble into something interesting.
Maybe you will catch a story you would not have lived otherwise.
Maybe you will just laugh at how uncomfortable it feels.

Either way, it counts.

So that is today’s experiment for you too.
Try the Yes Rule, and if you can, report back.
I can’t way to see what adventures such a tiny shift can make.

See you tomorrow, Stack fam.

J

✳️ The Stack.

Part of the 75-Day Stack Challenge, essays for builders, makers, and doers, finding their start again.

Written by Josiah Hyacinth, creator, strategist, and storyteller exploring the intersection of faith, creativity, and action. Follow along as we unpack what it means to build, become, and begin again.