I love this quote by Warren Buffet, “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.”
Let that sink in. Because it’s important.
It’s also really, really hard for a lot of people. I get it. You want to be helpful. You want to be the team player. You want to get the accolades of being the “yes” person. You like staying crazy busy. HOWEVER, there’s a flipside to that coin.
When we say YES to EVERYTHING, we don’t often leave room for opportunities that we otherwise might have and there is little or no strategy to our time management.
Top producers, exceptional earners – are strategic thinkers. They pay ATTENTION. They know exactly what their bandwidth is at any given time of any given day. In order to be on top of their game, they keep their sights close to the high priority activities that take them closer to their goals each day. Are you doing that as well?
Here are a few ways saying NO can lead to a bigger success YES:
- It eliminates distractions and keep the focus on the goals
- Allows you to use resources more effectively (time and talent)
- Puts you on a path to be a more focused leader
- Narrows your choices, keeping focus crystal clear
- Preserve your energy (physical and mental)
- Allows you to fail faster (and yes that’s a good thing)
- Allows you to fail smarter (love a great learning curve)
- Makes you more honest (How many times did you really want to say NO before?)
Saying no when people ask you to help them with projects or attend an event you don’t want to doesn’t make you rude. Or a bad friend. Or bad team member. It makes you focused and keeps you on track. I often say you don’t have time to do EVERYTHING, only time to do what matters.
“But Neen! How do I say NO?” Let me help you. “Thank you for your kind invitation, however, I am unable to join you.” That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t throw excuses or fibs at it. Just say, kindly and politely, “no thank you.”
In the book, Anything You Want, Derek Sivers says, “When you say no to most things you leave room in your life to throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say, ‘HELL YEAH!’” I love that and you should too. Why? Because EVERYONE’S life deserves a whole lot more ‘Hell Yeah’ moments.
Say no to the things that DON’T take you closer to your goal, get you excited, make you want to jump out of bed or move you forward. That way there is room to say YES to all the things that DO. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Share them with us here!
The most requested topics this year revolve around sales, service and leadership. Call me today to learn how getting your team’s ATTENTION and teaching them innovative strategies in these areas can catapult your company’s ability to compete.
