Sorry regular readers for missing Monday’s blog but I have just finished 6 of the busiest days of my life. We have just finished the national fitness convention called Filex. It was huge with over 2200 attendees and I presented, all day Thursday and Friday and for 3 hours Saturday and Sunday – I know that is only 4 days but I was preparing the other 2 days.
This is the number one opportunity for me to promote my business, so I love it! I thrive on the adrenalin rushing through my body as you are busy doing so many things.
But I wonder if I would less stressed and achieve more, if I could just say “No.”
And this never dawned on me, as I didn’t think I was stretching myself too thin, until my wife said, “This is your busiest week for work. Don’t you think you could say no to rugby training this week?”
And I never considered that before.
Never considered saying ‘No.’
I realised I didn’t know how to say ‘no.’
But I know if I had said ‘No’ to half a dozen things in the last 6 days then my stress levels would have been lower, I would have slept better, squeezed in a work out and probably lunch!
Monday is ‘Daddy Day Care’ for me. I love spending the day with my 17 month old and while we were walking, I got thinking about entrepreneurs and small business owners /managers that I know. I was ticking them off on who would always say yes and who would say no.
Not surprisingly, I struggled to get more than a hand full who I think would be No Men and No Women. Most from my calculations would be Yes Men and Yes Women.
So as I puffed and panted pushing the pram and dragging my weary dog up the last 2 hills, I then thought about the success of the people I was thinking about. I cross matched success with Yes to everything and the ability to say no.
Here is what I found with those that could say ‘no’
- Looked younger
- Appeared less stressed
- Exercise more
- Married only once or had one serious girlfriend
- Good eating habits
- Happier
The moral of the story, learn to say ‘no’ so you don’t stretch yourself too thin.
Everything in life suffers if there is no balance and to create that balance, we have to say no.
But I think the bigger problem is as business people don’t know how to say no without offending and without worrying about a lost opportunity.
What do you think?
