Do you often overcommit, feel scattered or worse, totally overwhelmed? If so, you might appreciate a philosophy that I have been living by most of my life, but needed to recommit to recently as a result of having fallen off track. (Hey! It happens to all of us!).
That philosophy is this:
If I’m not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, then I’m saying no.
Meaning- when deciding whether to commit to something, if I feel anything less than, “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” – then my answer is no.
When you say no to things, you leave room in your life to really throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say, “HELL YEAH!”
We’re all busy. We’ve all taken on too much. Saying yes to less is the way out.
Examples:
I was hiring someone as an admin assistant. There were many candidates. Like a good leader, I made a pros and cons list for each candidate. Nobody blew me away, but I felt I had to choose one of them. Instead, I said no to all, and began the search again in a different way. That process turned up someone that was an absolute fit and my partner and I could not wait to get started with this new team member. That would never have happened had I chosen someone from the previous search. Someone that I considered a 7 out of 10 instead of a 9.5 out of 10.
The other day, I was cleaning up my closet and made 3 piles. The Hell Yeah! pile, the Hell No! pile and then…there was the Maybe pile…yikes…the Maybe pile is always the troublesome pile no matter what the subject is. I saw things in there that I had forgotten about and that totally still suited me…yet…I have not worn them in months or even years and that’s a lot of wasted closet real estate. Instead of trying each piece and debating if it still suits me or not as usual, I asked myself: If this was not mine, how much money would I be willing to spend today to acquire it? That question totally did the trick. All but ONE article of clothing was donated…it felt so freeing!!!
Book Recommendation:
If you are tired of feeling scattered and overwhelmed. If you want to increase your level of focus and productivity, this book will change your life forever…guaranteed.
Essentialism – The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less by Greg McKeown.
“The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices re-actively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the non-essentials, and then removes the obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage.” ~ Greg McKeown
In other words: No more “yes”. It’s either “HELL YEAH!” or “No”.
Leap Of The Week:
What will you say NO to this week?