I want to do lots of things. I want to do things well. I don’t seem to be able to do lots of things well. {sigh}

When I was younger, I refused to accept this as a reality. I repeatedly attempted more than I could do and either didn’t finish them or didn’t do them well.

It took years (seriously), but I finally reached a point where I didn’t want to continue repeating the same pattern. I finally accepted reality.

 

There seemed to be a couple of options:

I could do more, poorly or I could do less, better.

I chose to do less, better.

How? By saying no.

 

I don’t like saying no.

I was afraid to say no.

I was afraid that if I said no, I would miss out. I had FOMO before it was a thing.

I was afraid that if I said no, people would be mad at me.

Like with so many things, the fear was worse than the reality.

I learned that the things I missed out on didn’t ruin my life.

I learned that the people I was worried about upsetting didn’t hate me.

Learning to say no was difficult at first, but it got easier. It has allowed me to do fewer things, better. And I like that.

 

But what if it isn’t your choice? What if more is being forced on you? By a boss? By family responsibilities?

These pressures are real. There aren’t easy answers. There are, however, real limits for all of us. Limits to time, energy, and ability. Reality will dictate that, eventually, something doesn’t get done. Something is done poorly.

If you can’t say no, it would be wise to prioritize so that the least important thing is what gets dropped or what gets done poorly.

But it would be better to say no up front, if possible.

 

Fight to say no.

Fight to do less, better.

 

To what things do you need to say “no” so you can do fewer things?

What are those few things that you want to do better?

 

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Thank you!