Behold, the Power of No
How many times over the past month, have you said “yes” to something, even if you didn’t really want to?
While I am a firm believer in the power of cheese, I have discovered that sometimes “No” is the word you need, especially for businesswomen. To be more effective, productive, profitable. To have a good life with plenty of time spent with friends and family and on hobbies in addition to work.
Say yes
You’ve seen articles and posts urging you to say yes to everything. I think there’s even a book written by someone who said “Yes” to everything that was offered to her. Sounds good, right? Being open to exploration is supposed to be a good thing.
Well, I tried it. I said yes to practically every networking event in my local community, I joined boards of local nonprofits. I was even president of one of them. My results weren’t great. Actually, they were kind of terrible. The activities didn’t add to my business; rather, they subtracted time I could have better spent elsewhere.
Which is not to say that you should never say yes. But I think we as entrepreneurs have to pick and choose much more carefully. Especially if you’re an introvert like me, because all that socializing wears on you!
Successful leaders say no
Entrepreneurs, 7-figure business owners, and CEOs of top companies say no. All the time. They have the same 24 hours in every day as everyone else. So there are very few additional activities that make it through their filters.
Do you struggle with saying the word “no”? Remember, the word “no” is a complete sentence.
Saying “no” allows you to set the boundaries that you need to make sure you’ve got time to accomplish your goals and also recharge. Otherwise, people will continue to ask you to do things that don’t help you get closer to your goals. Not necessarily out of malice, but the intent doesn’t matter when the result is that you don’t have time for yourself.
How much of your day do you want to control? If you want to run your day and have it (mostly) be the tasks that you know are important to accomplish, then you need to say “no” to most things.
Things I have learned to avoid:
Saying “I can’t”. For whatever reason, people want to know why you can’t do something. Also, they know you’re lying: you can do it, you’re just choosing not to. Be honest instead.
Saying “I shouldn’t.” Just go ahead and say “yes” instead, because that’s what you’re going to end up saying when you start with “shouldn’t.” It’s bad for your mindset too. Instead, try something like, “I’m choosing something else that better aligns with my goals and values.”
Saying, “OK” when it’s not OK but you feel pressured. Because then you end up feeling resentful (and may end up showing it), but the other person is bewildered because you told them it was OK.
You can always say, “I need to think about this before giving you an answer.” And if they suggest that you don’t need to think about it or that you need to let them know the answer right that second, then let the answer be “no” right then and there. If someone’s trying to force you to do something, it’s not going to be in your best interests.
When to say “yes”
What if someone comes to you with genuinely interesting ideas or something that you’d be willing to spend your valuable time on? If you’re being asked to do something that you can see right away will have a tangible benefit to you or your business, then saying “yes” is probably the right move.
But if you’re not sure, maybe you need to think a little more about it. Under what circumstances will this request help you and/or your business? If you’re uncertain, but it seems more likely that it will help you, then you might consider agreeing to it. But if there’s no clear benefit, it’s OK to say “no”.
Recap:
Not only do I want no scrubs, I also don’t want to say yes to something that is only going to waste my time. The power of “no” can help you strengthen your boundaries, which means you get to accomplish the important tasks in your business.
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