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Are you a YES person?3 min read

In the course of a day, week, month or year we all meet lots of people and business owners. In any of these meetings have you ever met an individual that seemed to be a bit more stressed and over whelmed than the others? They always seem to have too much on their plate. Why is this? The answer is simple – they are “Yes” people and they either don’t know how or like to say No. In the abc’s of building a better business the letter N represents No!

If you are thinking that you may be a yes person realize that you are actually creating your own state of over whelm. You just may be an overly empathetic and nurturing person and feel that you will hurt some ones feelings if you say no.  You may feel that they might not like you if you say no. If you are a business owner and this is you – this is a trait that you need to get under control. Understand that there is a time to say yes as well as there is a time to say no.

Now you may have a business or career that you have an assistant who can say “no” for you. This assistant would be fully clear of what is important and can act as a buffer of what truly warrant’s your time. If someone has a request, they would simply have to go through her first. This system alone would keep you much more focused and productive.

Now if you don’t currently have an assistant -that means all the requests are coming straight to you. This is where you need to get crystal clear on what and what not to say yes to. As entrepreneurs or business owners – we all understand that our time is our most valuable commodity – be sure to treat it well. If we don’t truly value the importance of our time, trust me neither will the others.

Now take a moment and think – Have you ever ended up saying “yes” to something or someone that you really wanted to say no to? And as soon as you said it you were kicking yourself almost immediately.

Have you ever attended a meeting that ended up being a total waste of time? The other party or parties ended up coming totally unprepared. In fact, when it was all said and done, you had no idea what the other party really wanted.

In this fast paced hectic world of business we could be getting several requests a day. This actually could become a full-time job if we let it. But that’s something that you’re not going to let happen, because you now realized how much is at stake by saying yes to everything. By being clear on what is truly important you will now have to possess the resolved to say “no” to everything unless there is a really compelling reason to say “yes.” In other words, just switch your default response from “yes” to “no.”

As I was thinking about this today, I was reminded again of why this is so important—not only for me, but probably for you as well. I wrote down five things that we will all gain in learning to say “no,”

  1. Only the true priorities will now take precedence.
  2. Mere acquaintances—people we barely know —will no longer crowd out our time with family and close friends.
  3. We will have more time we need for rest and recovery.
  4. We will feel less frustrated and stressed.
  5. We will only say “yes” to the really important things.

I fully understand that every time I say “no” to something that is not important, I am saying “yes” to something that is. Enjoy your new journey of living in the world of what is truly important and warrant’s only your valuable time.