The Most Important Word To Grow Your Business

The Word

No. One syllable. Two letters. A bigger impact than any other word you could say or implement into your day to day business. How can the word make or break your business? How can two letters make you 2X, 3X, 10X more money than you're currently making? Well, the same way it can LOSE you those same amounts. The same way it can limit, stunt, or stop altogether the growth that's so important to expanding your business, regardless your industry.

Yes is No and No is Yes

The biggest problem most people have with the word 'no' is they often confuse it with yes. The things they should say no to, they say yes to, and those they should pursue, they shut down, often times accidentally. For example, let's consider a real estate agent who agrees to show a flaky buyer their 50th home this weekend. If they say "YES" to the home buyer, on demand, knowing it's going to be a waste of time, they're saying "NO" (without actually saying it) to more productive prospecting, content creation, hosting a high-traffic open house, or even some R&R that could rejuvenate them and give them a boost into the following week.

You can only do so many things. We all have the same 168 hours each week, and whatever we say YES to limits what else we can do. Where we focus our energy and effort is one of the most important (I'd argue, potentially THE most important) things that will determine our success or failure.

Real Life

"NO" is the word that reshaped my career. For years in the mortgage industry, I was the "Let me be your backup option!" loan officer. I was pretty good at my job. But I was chasing leads that had no loyalty to me that were being sent by agents who had no loyalty to me . Worse, these agents were small time producers who weren't great themselves, and their leads were terrible - every deal had a million moving parts, damaged credit, and a thousand hurdles, all of which sucked away time. I didn't have the bandwidth to do more than 2-3 of these loans each month, and they left me feeling unfulfilled and exhausted.

My mistake was that I worked my tail off until I felt I could financially afford to blow off these non-loyal, PITA (pain in the ass) agents and their clients who demanded I give my all while they gave very little. Once I did, I realized that when I spent my time working with people I like, who are loyal, grateful, and proactive, my business improved - DRASTICALLY. I was happier. I got more done. I could accommodate 5-10 units/month instead of 2-3 with less stress. My loan process became cleaner and more streamlined, so my clients and referral partners were happier and more impressed. The mistake was waiting until I THOUGHT I was financially stable enough to say NO. In hindsight, had I learned to say no earlier, my business and finances would have improved overnight.

When to say NO

We won't get anywhere in life only doing what we feel like 24/7, so sometimes you'll need to do things that you really don't want to. You'll work with a client or agent you'd rather not. You'll get assigned a project you'd rather not do - these can be yes moments. But here's an easy tip: if you're saying yes MORE than you're saying NO, you're saying yes to too many things and you're on a bad path.

Yes should be reserved for things that leave you happy, fulfilled, and profitable. Sometimes you'll need to squeeze a yes that doesn't fit these requirements into your schedule, but that should be the exception and not the rule.

That webinar that you're not that interested in for a platform that you can't afford? That's a NO. The meeting request with someone that's just going to suck away your time and energy? NOPE! Time spent answering the phone or emailing the ungrateful, unwilling-to-do-what-it-takes, flaky individuals in your life and business? That's a big NO. Anything that falls into the "Unimportant and not urgent" category of 'things to do' should be an automatic no.

The Result

Freedom. More time on the things you should say yes to - learning, growing, and serving the people you WANT to work with and for. Time implementing. Time to be proactive in your business instead of reactive. The result of all of this extra time is increased profit, less stress, and more happiness and joy every day.

When you learn to say NO and start focusing on it, you'll notice a quick change in every aspect of your life for the better. In the grand scheme of things, to say we all have the same 168 hours each week is true, but even more impactful is that we all have one life to live - spend it saying yes to the things that matter and bring you joy. The only way to do that is to say no to all the other stuff.