Lesson 3 — Learn to Say No
Simple Lessons to Become the Most Innovative Person Around
Last week one of my readers asked me about my way of prioritizing. Her question was “How do you prioritize and say ‘no’ to projects — even when they are awesome?”
I have two ways of deciding if I should say yes or no to projects. One is the “Hell Yeah or No” technique by Derek Sivers. It’s only a yes if you think “Hell Yeah! I want this project”. If it’s not a “Hell Yeah” so it’s a no. This principle hugely helped me to decide. I travel less now, I say no to new projects. If it’s not a “Hell Yeah” so it’s a no.
Secondly, I start every year with the definition of the perfect end. I pause and reflect on the perfect outcome. I tell myself: “Imagine it’s January 1st, 2021. you look back at the year 2020 and you just smile. People around you praise you, it was simply a perfect year (personally and at work). Describe what happened.”.
By doing this I definitely see what is important, I definitely know the one thing I should focus on. This exercise is comparable to the idea from the book THE ONE THING by Gary Keller.
