Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Power of No (or Eliminating Time Wasters)

Happy February everyone!

We've all heard how women tend to be people pleasers, and I guess I've been guilty of that over the years, but for me I think it's more about being an overacheiver.

A couple months ago I read The Magic of Thinking Big on recommendation of my dad (thanks dad!) and I've learned so much from it. It will definitely be one of the books I return to. Well, it mentioned how it's important to say, "Yes!" and keep taking on projects because super busy people tend to balance best and can "get things done." 

Hmmmm.

I had to sit on that for a minute. I've seen that work out well for my husband who was balancing a D-1 basketball career and undergrad then grad school and now working 2 jobs in addition to other leadership roles he has outside of work. However, I find that I can focus on few things and do them well vs. several not so well.

Knowing that 2012 is my "launch year," I have been feeling the power of saying, "No!" So far I've eliminated three major time-vacuums and have been passing up other things that I know will detract from my goals.

I believe there is a delicate balance between passing up things that will be good for my aspirations and those things that simply suck up my time.

When I spotted this Tweet by Rick Warren this morning, it really hit home:

So what are you saying no to? Go ahead, it's ok!