The Magnet 0019- Unless It's a “Hell Yeah!” Then Say “No, Thanks”⁠↗

It’s easy to say yes to a future commitment because it doesn’t affect your present self. You can ignore the commitment for days, weeks, or months, but eventually, you will have to do the work that your future self promised. Now, whenever Kevin gets invited to do anything in the future, he mentally swaps the due date with “tomorrow.” So, “Can you give a keynote speech at our conference in Tulsa three months from now?” Becomes “Can you give a keynote speech at our conference in Tulsa tomorrow?” It’s much easier to decide whether you want to do something when you make this change to the question.

Say “no” to almost everything and leave space in your life. Leave free time. But this is not relaxing, it’s strategic because then when something great comes along, like something that makes you say “oh, hell yeah, that would be awesome,” then not only can you say yes to that but now you have the time and energy to throw yourself into it completely, like now you can give it your all.