My clients inspire me!
I love to see them implementing their action plan and the obvious pride on their face when they share the impact it is having.
One client exemplified this experience. As the CEO of a large organization, she has more demands on her time than most. She also has the tendency to work herself silly to get it all done.
On a recent call, she had a “cat who ate the canary” look on her face. She was excited to share a story about how she actually said no. She was asked to interview some final candidates for an open position. In the past, she would have twisted her calendar around to make it happen. But not this time.
She responded with how she trusted her team to make the best selection and that she wouldn’t be interviewing them. Her assistant of many years was both shocked and proud. He wrote an email to highlight her great decision, because no one knew better than him how overscheduled she was. The response from her assistant solidified her decision and encouraged her to keep it up.
As she shared this story, I thought to myself, you know what she needs, a Not To Do List.
I gave her an assignment and I will share it with you as I am sure she is not the only one out there in need of clarity about what to say no to.
The Assignment
Think about where you spend your time and what should be on your “not to do list”.
Ask yourself what criteria or boundaries you can develop to determine whether to say yes or no to a request.
Her tendency, like many of us, is to just say yes and make it work in the end, which causes stress to our physical and mental health.
If you want a reminder on how to say no, check out my post a few weeks back titled Do you know how to say “No”? I share how the “NO” sticky note my husband put on my computer helped me build a better habit around overcommitting.
I often remind myself that saying no is saying yes to something else. We all need to remember that the word no, doesn’t have to be a one-word response and we can still offer another way that they can get what they need.
What would be on your “not to do list”?