Just say NO
NO is without a doubt one of the single most powerful word in the English language. There are hundreds of books on the topic of How to say No, Why to say No, Who to say No to, but most of us still don’t say it often enough. The challenge is, WHAT do we say No to?
As my company began to grow I started being given opportunities in the business community and offered positions on a few non-profit boards in town. It was an exciting time in my career with my business success and feeling “validated” by the increased popularity, so I said Yes to all the offers.
I didn’t stop there. It’s my belief that if you join something you give it 100%, so I joined working committees inside the boards which lead to leadership roles for those committees and so on. I now felt like I was engaged in our city’s growth and was truly making a difference. The running joke began to be that being the CEO of my company was the part time job.
That’s when I learned about the Immutable Law of 168: no matter how you “manage” your time, there are still only 168 hours in a week. It’s non-refundable, non-savings enabled, non-negotiable, and non-guaranteed. By saying Yes, I realized I didn’t have enough time to get everything done. The adage that, “time is the most valuable currency”, isn’t a new one, but when you begin to think there are only 168 hours in a week, 8736 in a year, 598416 for the average life span, Time takes on a new meaning.
Just like you would say No to a financial investment you think is wrong, the same thought process applies when it comes to your Time. When thinking about time investment, saying No is simply allowing yourself to be available to say Yes more often to the investments you want to make in your life.
When it comes to investments in your career, Time is a major source of currency. Below are 3 tips to help know when to say No, so you can say Yes to a great career.
1. Say No to networking without a plan. Develop a strategy around the type of events you should invest your time and know why.
2. Say No to being career only focused. Giving time to groups that have nothing to do with work can sometimes bring the biggest returns.
3. Say No to Monday morning planning. Spend 15 minutes on Sunday evening being mindful about what you want to accomplish and the investments you want to make in the coming week.
Like Jeffrey Gitomer says “All things being equal, people do business with people they like. All things being unequal, people do business with people they like.” That only happens over time.
Need help, visit www.careerdesigncoaching.com.
