The Mel Robbins Podcast

Snapshot · The Mel Robbins Podcast

Create a Happier Version of Yourself: Redirect Your Energy for Positive Thinking

Explore episode Jul 2, 2026

Where this was said

Takeaway 2: Are You Shrinking or Expanding?

At 28:31 · chapter starts 26:06

Mel reframes a concept usually applied to the workplace — 'quietly quitting' — as something people do to every chapter of life. Oakley's version was textbook: staying in his dorm on Friday and Saturday nights, dreading the weekends, trying a club or party once and retreating the moment it felt awkward, telling himself the experiment had failed. Mel did the same in Vermont — spending time with her equally-miserable friends Amy and Jesse, watching old friends on social media as if she were watching them sail away on a party barge. Both were choosing to be right about the situation being wrong rather than trying to make it work. The advice that emerges is twofold: you have to give a new chapter at least a year before judging it, and during that year you need to be a 'yes' — expansive, uncrossed, open. Oakley's turning point came in January when he stopped waiting and started acting.

Society & Culture
Oakley's January Reset: Saying Yes to Everything

Create a Happier Version of Yourself: Redirect Your Energy … · Jul 2, 2026 Society & Culture

In January of his sophomore year, Oakley rejoined the Frisbee team he'd quit, went to every party, texted every mutual, and got lunch with strangers. Within months he had close friends and loved college. The lesson: when you stop comparing and start saying yes, the accumulation of small yeses changes everything.

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