Many years ago the mantra in our company was "when you say 'yes' to one thing, you are saying 'no' to another. So, what do we want to say 'yes' to?"
Isn't that so true in life? You make a commitment to an event, a project, a relationship, a hobby; you say "yes," and at the time you are asked, but you don't think about what you are actually saying "no" to by making that decision.
In the reading about learning to say no in my Open Doors devotional today, it was like a smack in the face. The past week I have been running around, getting four to five hours of sleep each night trying to DO EVERYTHING! But as Rick says "busyness is not a virtue," and it drains my energy.
If you are finding yourself constantly feeling drained, then you are probably saying "yes" to too many things. When I met with my executive coach this week, I said "the only thing I want to focus on is getting refocused on what is REALLY important to me, and cutting out what isn't." We worked on writing out who I want my future self to be. By doing that, I can then work on looking at my schedule and making sure that everything I say "yes" to is something that leads me to being who I want to be. It brings such clarity and joy to know how to determine what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to.
By taking the time this week to slow down and review that with my executive coach, it gave me so much focus on what "dead weight" I am carrying and what I need to say "NO" to.
What do you need to clean up in your life? What events, commitments, habits do you need to say "no" to today so that you can say "YES!!" to what is most important? Even if you have already committed, it may just be in your best interest to bow out now, before you just quit everything because you are burned out!
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