Both in business and in life, “no” holds a great deal of power.
Saying no shows that you’re confident and that you have boundaries.
Whilst saying no can be uncomfortable, it will help you in the long run, and I want to explain why.
To first understand why saying no is so important, you need to understand why you shouldn’t always say yes.
If you say yes to everything, that means that everything has the same value to you and trust me it doesn’t.
There are so many things that will waste your time and your time is extremely valuable.
If you aren’t using your time well, you’re wasting it.
So now, you want to maximise your time.
Do this by doing everything with a purpose.
Sitting behind a computer, in a meeting, or on the other side of a conversation are all situations where you could contribute nothing and sit or stand there mindlessly.
Listen to what people are asking you.
Weigh up whether or not it aligns with your goals and desired outcomes.
In corporate parlance, does that align with your KPIs or your company’s KPIs?
If not, then say “no”.
Instead of having meaningless conversations about someone’s job or what they did that weekend, aim to invest your time and energy in every conversation you have as if it’s with your favourite celebrity or biggest idol.
I picked up a great saying from a brilliant friend.
You should be focussing on fewer, bigger, and better impact projects.
I talk to many entrepreneurs and they often say that they are ‘crazy busy’ and ‘have so much on I couldn’t tell you my top 3 priorities’.
If everything is a priority, then nothing is.
If nothing is a priority, then what you are doing is of no value.
This can be hard for many people to internalise.
It challenges what they do on a daily basis.
They feel the need to be busy to justify what they are doing.
I’d rather be doing valuable work than busy work.
Wouldn’t you?
