Do You Know When and How to Say "NO"?

KEEP CALM AND

JUST SAYNO

Have you ever found yourself facing so many different opportunities and paths you didn’t know which way to go?

Have you ever found yourself burdened by demands of people surrounding you but unable to say no?

Have you ever been so unbelievably busy that you lost that ‘me’ time you used to love?

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

- Warren Buffett, business magnate, investor and

philanthropist

Start by knowing your priorities

By setting priorities for different aspect ofour lives, we are getting the ultimate metrics for evaluating different alternatives we areconsidering.

By saying “No” to some opportunities, we are making sure that we won’t pass up more important ones, ones that are better aligned with our long-term goals, due to the fact that we are already juggling too many things.

“You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have in a way that is consistent with your strategy. In the end, a strategy is nothing but good intentions unless it's effectively implemented.” 

- Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and disruptive innovator

Learn how to evaluate your options

Think of yourself as of a business you are managing. You have your goals and your resources, and you are ultimately working towards your survival, growth and development. On your path, you will have to make some difficult choices of where to invest those resources.

Use the same evaluation method companies are using when making decisions where to invest their resources – cost-benefit analysis - by estimating expected benefits and expected costs of each and every opportunity.

Expected costs include time and energy we have invested, as well as opportunity cost - cost of not being able to invest in another alternative.

Expected benefits are advantages we are making toward achieving our goals.

In order to decide for an alternative, expected benefits must be greater than expected costs.

Ignore sunk costs!

It can be very hard to decide to give up on something we have invested so much time and effort into; something that was our brain child; something that we have grown to love.

But, if it is not working out, no matter how much we have invested of ourselves in it, the right this is to say is: “No (more)”.

Be prepared and you have won half a battle

Some of them can be solved by careful preparation of respectful and brief responses we can use as a template for refusing an opportunity or request.

There are many difficulties when it comes to actually saying “No” to someone.

Be appreciative

By thanking the person for thinking of us or trusting our capabilities, we are letting them know that we are refusing the request, not them, and that we are open for future collaboration.

Or even a coffee next week.

It is better to give a reason for refusal than to leave people wondering. It is very important for that refusal to be straightforward and sincere.

By giving lightweight reasons we are actually weakening our “No” and sometimes even disrespecting the other person.

Always provide a brief explanation

Template Example

Dear _________,

Thank you for thinking of me and providing me with this opportunity! It sounds really ____________ and I would love to know more about it.

Unfortunately, I am not able to become a part of your project due to ________________________________________________________.

If there is anything else I can help you with please let me know.

Yours sincerely,______________

Resist temptation.

“The lesson I learned from this is that it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time. If you give in to ‘Just This Once’, based on a marginal cost analysis, as some of my former classmates have done, you’ll regret where you end up. You’ve got to define for yourself what you stand for and draw the line in a safe place.” 

- Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and disruptive innovator

I hope you liked this post!

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Sanja Gardašević.ME Registrywww.domain.me

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