While at coding bootcamp, my instructors, Bret, Trip and Daniel, got to talking as we sat in our van winding through the rice paddies of Bali. All impressive vets of the coding world, I like to listen as they chat because of their differing perspectives and brilliant banter. 

One of them said something that stuck out to me as we were riding along - and it basically rolled around in my head for the rest of the ride. They had been talking about a new app they just heard about.

“Yeah, that’s what I like to call a solution looking for a problem.” 

Someone once told me that they live by the motto "Always say yes." She said that when she was younger, she wouldn't jump on opportunities because she didn't feel prepared or was too shy. She overcame this and started living by this motto and the most magical things started appearing in her life. 

It's also a motto I've taken to heart in life and in business. This doesn't mean that you should say yes to ridiculous or dangerous things, but it does mean that you should say yes to things that might be difficult, thrilling, challenging or intimidating. 

What I really learned from that was to take opportunities, don’t waste them and certainly don’t give excuses not to take them. 

A few years ago I was very close with someone whose father was a billionaire. He owned a healthcare company and then started investing and buying other healthcare companies. He was completely self-made, put in the work and was really, really successful. 

I admired him so much, and the time I got to spend with him was always filled with learning moments for me.  

He always had a way of making business seem so simple. I loved our conversations because nothing ever seemed too complex. He had a way of distilling everything down to the simplest concepts and dealt with all situations with the simplest logic. It was very inspiring. 

Do you find that your to do list just turns into a bunch of questions? 

When I would start getting overwhelmed with work, in a fury I would do a huge brain dump on a legal pad. All of the things that I just had to get done in an effort to get it out of my head and organized. What ended up happening more often than not was that my to-do list would have more questions on it than to-dos. 

To-dos are actions, not questions.

A few years ago I was asked to speak on a panel of female entrepreneurs to discuss our journey into the world of business ownership. At the same time, I had committed to what I called “The Year of No.” 

As you guessed, the Year of No was about saying no to all of the ridiculous things that I had being saying yes to. Things that were sucking my time and attention or generally just made me grumpy: coffee dates, pick your brain dates, actual dates, no fun friends, networking events, listening to voicemails, and yes, EMAIL. 

Being a curious person, I ask a million questions. A guy I used to date at dinner parties would say, "Stephanie's around here somewhere, you can't miss her - she's the one asking questions."  It was a running joke.

The questions really never end.  Some questions keep me awake at night, "does the Zero Point Field really exist?" and some are fleeting, "what would I look like with a shaved head?" and every question in between.