The TRUTH About Always Saying YES (It's Killing Your Business)

There is one word I never say without serious thought, and that word is yes. If I say yes on impulse, I'm giving away something I can never get back. My time. Because every single time I say yes to something, I say no to everything else that matters. Let's start with the dangerous cost of saying yes. Stay with me for a moment. Here's a little thought experiment I want you to do. Imagine someone walks up to you and asks you for $1,000. You wouldn't just like open up your bank app and transfer them $1,000. You'd ask some questions, say, why do you need it? Maybe what's the return on investment? Can I even afford that right now? But for some reason, when someone asks for a chunk of your time, we don't think twice. We say yes out of politeness. Goals will get forgotten about and never get accomplished. And listen, I was honored to be invited to that conference. And I'm sure it would have been fun. But it was the choice I had to make so that I can be true to my own goals, my own ambitions, my own priorities. Here's the thing about saying yes. In my world, if I say yes, I follow through every time. Whether it's a team member, a friend, or myself, my yes means something. Sometimes I say yes to something and I regret that I said yes. But I follow through and I do it anyway. Because my word means something. So if I commit, I'm locked in. And that's why I don't commit lightly. Because a cheap yes leads to broken trusts. Especially with yourself. Which is one of the worst trusts to break, where you tell yourself you're going to do something and you don't do it. And you just train yourself that you don't mean nothing, right? Your. Your words mean nothing, your commands mean nothing. And it tells yourself that you don't follow through. And therefore you start believing that if you ever feel over committed and then backed out in the last minute, you know the feeling of guilt and stress and resentment, the maybe you don't feel any of this stuff. Maybe you're like, oh, whatever. But personally, when I say yes to something, it means something. And I rather just say no upfront before they expect me to do something, than for me to reluctantly do something just because I committed to it. This habit doesn't just protect my time. It helps me build a reputation as someone who's reliable, someone who doesn't flake. Someone people can trust. When people could trust your word because you are somebody else of your word. That's powerful when you Stop just by reflex saying yes to things, you start respecting your time more. You become intentional about what you do and what you do with your time. You actually start hitting your goals because you go back to your goals, because you got the bandwidth to do so now, because you're not saying yes to everything. And people, they start respecting you even more. You know who does this masterfully, actually? Warren Buffett. He once said, the difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything. Think about that. When you say no to almost everything, that means whatever you say yes to, you are all in focus and you are committed to it because you have sacrificed all the no's you've given said no to everything else because this really matters. Here's a quick exercise you could try this week. Something simple that you could try to implement what you're learning today. Every time someone asks you for your time. Now, we're not talking about five minutes of your time, but they're asking for an 30 minutes of your time, an hour of your time. Pause and use this line. Let me check and get back to you. Then actually check. Does it align with your goals? Are you saying yes out of guilt or out of pleasure? Will this cost you more than it gives you? And if it's not a hell yes, it's a no. Or at least not now. By the way, there's a great book on that topic called Hell yeah, or no, but by Derek Sivers. It's a great read. Practice this muscle. You'll be shocked at how much focus and freedom you gain. Now, what really helps when you're doing this exercise is maybe taking a few minutes beforehand before you start doing this this week and brainstorm. What are the three, four, five things in your life that are a hell yeah. Things that you absolutely love, that you enjoy, that, that are a part of your life, part of your business, part of what you do. Okay? So for me, anything that helps me get better as a podcaster or grow the show, that's a hell yeah for me. So I prioritize that, because if I don't, then I might not be able to do the things I actually want to do, because I've already committed to things that are not a priority. So you see how it goes. So if I say yes to something else, that's just not one of those things on my list. Ah, you know, tough situation here. See, that's why you need a little bit of wiggle room. You need a little bit of breathing room, so that when the opportunity Arises where you can do the things that are important to you. You can say yes easily. Look, I'm not antisocial. I'm not trying to live like a monk here. But I've learned the hard way that protecting your time is essentially protecting your life. If you want to build something meaningful, a business, a body of work, a legacy, you've got to treat your time like gold. And this takes practice. It's not going to immediately feel this way from day to night. The more you do, the more you start to realize how valuable your time is. So say yes slowly and no. Often you should be saying no more than yes for sure. And when you say yes, mean it with your whole chest, right? And be proud. Yes. These are one of the things I have to say yes to because I love these things. This is important to me. This is something I value. So when you say yes, you fully commit. Here's a little tip. If you're backing out of things, if you're canceling on people, if you are not fulfilling promises, then that's a clear sign you're saying yes too quickly and saying yes too often to things that you don't want to do. So I mean, why are you canceling? Because either you don't want to do it or something else that you rather do came up. Okay, so slow down. No reason to say yes immediately. Slow down a little bit and understand that whenever you say yes, you're saying no to everything else. If you found today's episode helpful and you want to go more in depth, then you'll love my three Things newsletter. 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