Saying no

The ability to say no is a superpower. It gives you the power to choose how to spend your time.

We often say yes to things we know we shouldn’t. We say yes to many things we don’t actually want to do. That’s because saying no is hard and saying yes is easy. It hurts to say no. It feels good to say yes.

But saying yes is much more expensive than saying no. Saying yes spends your time. Saying no saves your time. No is a decision. Yes is a commitment. When you say no, you say no to one thing. When you say yes, you say no to all the other things you could have done with that time.

To get what you want, you have to focus. Focus requires saying no. Creating space to take advantage of the truly special opportunities requires you to say no to most things.

Defaulting to yes is lazy. Considering no is disciplined.

Raise your bar for a yes. Only say yes when you feel like saying "Hell yes!" Otherwise, default to saying no or, at a minimum, avoid saying yes in real-time. Replace “yes” with “maybe” to create time for consideration.

Protecting your time requires saying no.

Have thoughts on this topic? I'd love to hear from you! I'm @RickLindquist on X.