"NO!"

In today's society it is more often than not considered a good thing to just say "yes" to everything and figure it out along the way. But this isn't always a good idea. Often things we say yes to, do more harm than good but we justify this to ourselves with a variety of superficial excuses or claims that we'll never do something similar again before proceeding to repeat our mistakes. This is because we are never taught the power of saying "NO!"

As mentioned earlier, often things we say yes to do more harm to us than good. This is where you need to start harnessing the power of saying "NO". This doesn't just apply to your personal life but also your business and professional life. Building a successful business takes focus and this often means saying “NO” to numerous things; probably even more things than you say yes to.

The best example of this is the late Steve Jobs. After he returned to Apple (the company which he founded and ran in its early years) he decided to put the focus of the company into only a few products and cut all the non-performing products. He understood that focus isn't just about saying yes to the things you think you have to focus on, but rather saying “NO” to plenty of other ideas. He decided to pick carefully in order to lift the company back up. He was just as confident in the things he said “NO” to as the ones he said yes to; he showed the world that innovation isn't only creating good inventions but rather saying “NO” to thousands of bad ones.

How can you apply this principle in your life? Well start by saying “NO” to anything that won't help you achieve your goals. This means saying “NO” to meetings that won't add value to your life or business, saying “NO” to jobs that aren't profitable as they will just distract you and instead looking for ones that are profitable. It's important to also say “NO” to opportunities that give you a funny feeling; listen to your gut because often these opportunities will just distract you from doing the opportunities that you actually want to be doing and that are doing well for your business. But to look after your business, you also need to remember to look after yourself. So, this means saying “NO” to people who waste your time and people in your life who don't really care about or for you.

But what about being rude? You're not being rude by saying “NO”; you're just taking control of your time. You don't need to give a reason for saying “NO”. You have a right to say “NO” and anyone that matters in your life will understand that. You are honed in on your business and personal life and don't need to explain or justify yourself.

The world is filled with "yes-people" and we don't need more of them. What the world needs is more people to stand out from the crowds, people who can confidently say “NO” and go on to trailblaze paths in all areas of their life. Life is too short to please other people by saying yes. To be happy and successful in life you need to understand and harness the extraordinary power of "NO!".