How I’ve learned to say NO by using my daily planner.

Learning to say NO is perhaps one of the most important lessons in life for anyone, and I’ve learned this lesson from using my daily planner. As I put together my daily plan I know that I only have enough room in the day to do what is necessary, and I have to choose what is most important in order to achieve the goals I have chosen.

"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything." - Warren Buffett

Learning to say NO doesn’t mean you can say NO all the time, especially to the significant people in your personal and business life, indeed they should be included in your goal planning. However, saying NO will give you the time needed to get the things done in order so you can actually achieve your goals.

Going from the “yes” person to the NO person is a difficult journey. All too often we are “invited” to accomplish tasks that detract from what is necessary to complete our goals. Whether those tasks are given by our own invitation (learn to say NO to yourself too) or from others, you can do some quick analysis to determine if it’s a yes or a no. While it's always “nice” to say yes to others, remember that completion of your goals will often benefit those people as well.

Saying NO does not make you into a bad person, it makes you into an accomplished person!

The first determination you must make is to look at the opportunity cost. If you do your ‘invited’ task, how much time will it cost you, how long will it delay other critical items, and what will happen if you do not do it.

The second determination is to find out if you can delegate the task. Why should you do it if there is someone else who can do it just as good as you, better than you, or faster than you. This is not to say you can push off all your responsibilities upon others, as there is a cost in delegation. But if it’s a win-win situation then by all means, delegate.

The third determination, after you’ve concluded that you must do the task because it would cost you too much not to do it, and you cannot logically delegate the task, is to prioritize the task so that it fits into your schedule and allows you the time to accomplish what is necessary in order to achieve your written goal.

Learning to say NO now in your life will ultimately help you get to the point where you’ll be able to say yes far more often in the future.

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