Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do.
I heard this in the name of some business guru a few years back, and it bears repeating. The reason behind this truth is that a lack of action is often an action. Meaning that when you say yes to something, when the answer should have been no, it puts you on a path that you are responsible to complete, that includes time burdens, emotional burdens, and financial burdens, among other things.
Every day, we have opportunities that come our way. Each opportunity needs to be weighed an evaluated to determine if it helps us get further along in our life goals (you have life goals right!) and if it doesn’t, then you shouldn’t be involved in the action, and need to say no.
However, it is not just a matter of saying no. Rather, there is an evaluation process that we must do with each request, where we evaluate, make a decision, then determine if were should say yes or no. So by learning to say no, we are making the same conscience choice of action as when we say yes, and taking a more proactive approach in life, which is always a good thing.
P.S. For some of you, saying no can be uncomfortable. If that is the case, pay attention to the voice in your head when you say yes, so you can figure out why you aren’t saying no. You need to get that voice under control.