The power of the word "no": developing minimalist thinking
A Life / / December 19, 2019
Cody McLain
CEO of SupportNinja, author of "Secrets of productivity that will change your life," the blogger.
Have you ever missed an excellent opportunity because it made a commitment to do something mediocre?
Maybe you agreed to look mediocre film, and then you called to snowboard in the same day. Or are you going to dedicate himself exclusively to one customer over the next four weeks, and therefore were forced to abandon the proposal better, which received a day later. Of course, you can violate their promises in these situations, but if you do it too often, you will soon be left without friends, and without customers.
What you do not do determines what you can do.
Tim Ferris (Tim Ferriss), American writer, speaker
So what do you do when you see that said "yes", at least not worth it? And more importantly, how do you determine what you need to say "yes" in a particular situation?
Some of us say "no" it is very difficult. Every "no" we perceive as a missed opportunity. We are going through, we could say no to the idea, attitude or experience that could affect our whole future life. And we are simply afraid to be in this situation. And we agree on everything.
But the reality is that you can not always say "yes". So let's look at how, when and why to say "no."
"No" - it is a matter prioritization
Key decision - not to prioritize its schedule and schedule of its priorities.
Stephen Covey (Stephen Covey), business skills, organizational management consultant, writer
Most solutions in our life can not be taken, using the word "yes" or "no", but rather "either / or".
Each "yes" entails costs associated with it. In other words, to spend your time or money on one thing, you will miss the opportunity to spend it on something else.
The word "no" - it is a problem prioritization. With every "no" you give yourself time to concentrate on something more meaningful for you.
In an interview with Forbes venture investor just discussed that, saying "no" less important cases, you You will be able to spend their time and money on things that really matter to you, your organization and your future.
according to the known Pareto principle20% of your efforts produce 80% of the results. If you find the strength to say "no" to an empty exercise, will be able to more effectively focus their efforts on those 20% that are truly important.
A simple and quick way to make sure that you wisely manage resources - ask yourself: "Is this really the best way to spend my time or money?". IN One of the articles James Clear (James Clear) examines in detail the compromise. To determine what is worth your time, it can be difficult. But those people who are able to set priorities, focus on the most important things for themselves and achieve more in life.
"Yes", "No" or "questionable": decide what projects should be engaged
The difference between successful people and very successful lies in the fact that the latter almost always answer "no."
Warren Buffett (Warren Buffett), an American entrepreneur, investor
It is not always easy to understand how to respond to a particular problem. How do you decide which projects to say "yes", which ones to put on pause, and which to get rid?
In our society the word "no" is often associated with lack of initiative, indecision, avarice. We have simply not made to answer "no." So, this is erroneous thinking. Saying "no", you do not automatically become a bad person.
Refusal does not mean that we are trying to dissociate itself from everyone. This does not mean that we are inferior to multitask than the others (in fact, No one works there is good). This means that we set our priorities in life. We know what we want and we know how to successfully achieve this.
This idea perfectly illustrates the transition from working full-time for own business. At first, you can do your business in the evenings and on weekends, at the same time leaving a job. But over time, there is a contradiction. Business can not be extended, unless you are willing to spend on it all the time. Therefore it is necessary to make a decision: either to leave the business as a hobby, or lose stability and wages.
It would be nice and keep a job, and succeed in business. But in reality, if you are giving all the power to one thing, it remains mediocre, and in fact, and in another case.
Thus, the question remains open: how to decide which activities to choose from and which to give up?
To begin, decide what you have to say "yes"
Before you decide how to respond to requests from other, it is critical to understand their priorities. What tasks definitely deserve your "yes"? This may be something grand, such as the decision to quit a job to start your own business. But it also may be a small permanent things that guide your life in the right direction.
Let me give a personal example. Every Saturday I water indoor plants, change the water in the tank and check my email receipt, I check to see which business books were published in the past week, and so on. Breaking such important parts of my life, such as home, work and business, to constantly make small, I get rid of a lot of trouble: my flowers do not dry out, the fish are healthy and included in the email, and the account is not accumulate.
These and some other habits to help me deal with the current affairs in life and business the most effective way. So I will have more time to say "yes" to other things. Occasionally doing this important but little things, I save yourself from future problems. Acting ahead of the curve, I save time on things that require a lot of resources.
When you understand what things are critical to your success, you will know what should be spending most of their time.
Create a list of "do not" for tasks that need to accurately say "no"
I am a staunch supporter of the organization of their lives with the help of applications, Folders and calendars. Effectively setting priorities in their projects, you do not let important tasks and things have gone unheeded.
One of the most important files on my system affairs - a list of "do not" of which I learned from the system GTD David Allen (David Allen).
My list of "not to do" includes the things that I have identified as a completely unprofitable. He helps me out of my mind the ideas and objectives, which are not worth my time, and focus on the areas that matter.
Just as on your balcony accumulated trash, your schedule can fill up the tasks that have no real value. This can be a habit to constantly check how many views brought a new post or a video on YouTube-channel. Or maybe you yourself mow the lawn, but from a financial point of view is more profitable to pay the neighbor kid. Tasks in the list of "not to do" is not necessarily bad, they just distract you from your work, which could potentially yield significant results. Understanding what tasks need to say "no", helps shorten your list.
Whenever possible, answer special "yes"
The art of leadership is to say "no" rather than "yes". Saying "yes" is very easy.
Tony Blair (Tony Blair), former Prime Minister of Great Britain
If you have time and time again say "no" in some cases that are important to you, perhaps it is time to tell them "yes" in a special way.
For example, in many web bloggers who organize their own courses. When you notice that people ask you the same questions over and over again and you do not have time to reply to all, it might be worth to create a course that will cover all the interests of the other information. Although work on the course will take a lot of time, this is an excellent opportunity to share their knowledge with a large group of people with whom you would not be able to communicate in a different format, and potentially earn money.
Another version of the situation when you have no time to help someone - to refer the matter to those who have time and skills, and the desire to do it.
Not necessarily always say "no". Sometimes it is easier to ignore someone, if you do not see the sense to answer. However, think about this decision a few minutes, if your help is very important for the other person. There is an excellent book Grant Adam (Adam Grant) «Take or give?", Which explains the importance of helping others, even in small things. When you interact with people, you learn to build with them communication and strengthen relationships.
These are just two of the many ways that you can say "yes", while at the same time answering "no" to a direct request.
Say "yes" to hiring assistant
To succeed today, you have to prioritize and decide what you are worth.
Lee Iacocca (Lee Iacocca), American manager, the author of several best-selling autobiographical
As CEO of the company SupportNinja and outsource supporter, I am convinced that the article would not be complete without a mention of outsourcing.
A year ago, I found that I could say "yes" more often, because it has learned to effectively manage staff outsourcing.
Since his own assistant - it's pretty expensive deal, this option will not work for everyone. But if you want to get to work with more clients, get rid of the problems and become more productive with a personal assistant is a lot easier.
To enjoy all the benefits of having an assistant, find out how to correctly delegate responsibilities. Of course, the assistant can take on all your worries, say, doing business (if I could, would have long since opened his own). But you can give him the repetitive tasks that often consume most of your time.
Personally, I've seen amazing results from the automation of certain processes and outsourcing. Discovering that outsourcing can save you thousands of hours, you'll often say "yes" in other cases.
Say "no" to the rest of
Say "no" to those cases in which you may have, and I want to do, but you realize that no benefit from them. Say "no" to those things that as the idea seemed attractive, but in the process you realize that they are not such. Say "no" to anything that makes you prokrastinirovat. Say "no" to buy that you can not afford. Each of these "no" will give you control over your future.
Any actions that are not necessary and meaningful to you, which you can not say "yes" or delegate them to someone else, say "no" without any regrets.
If this is some kind of grandiose plans, add them to the list of future projects, as long as keep 'em. You should prioritize and spend their time on those projects that are important and relevant to you at the moment.
When you clearly define what is important to you and your business, there will be no reason I feel guilty for abandoning affairs, projects or relationships that are contrary to your main goals.
And it's not selfish. Ideally you seek in any way to influence the world. Therefore, focusing on their most important goals in the future you will be able to help more people.
Start thinking like a minimalist - focus on what's important
Innovation - the ability to say "no" a hundred times.
Steve Jobs (Steve Jobs), entrepreneur, founder of Apple Inc.
The ability to say "no" refers to cases that we want to do as much as, and to the cases that do not want to do. Being able to identify the key priorities in the most important areas of life, you hereby determine their condition and state of health in general.
This is a minimalist thinking. The more we conduct ourselves as minimalists in respect of its plants, the more time we have a to important aspects of life.
This, as in pharmacology, kind of the minimum effective dose, which provides the desired results in an experiment, but for the process of thinking. The idea of the minimum effective dose is that you put as much effort as required to achieve the desired result, and no more. For example, you know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, and even if you warm up the stove up to 110 degrees, no special advantage to you is not willing - will only increase utility payments.
Say "no" to all cases and ideas that are unnecessary and do not add any real benefit to your goals.
No one except you will not be able to determine which actions are needed in your life, and what does not. To understand this, select a few hours and think about how and what you spend your time and whether your behavior to your goals.
Understanding when to say "no", is essential for success in business and life.