What stops others from using your time and energy as an extension of their own? It’s knowing what we should say no to because that’s like having a compass to guide our decisions. Something that answers those doubts of whether it was the right thing to do, or was it rude to say no, and did we miss out on something good.
It makes life a little easier and a lot more satisfying.
Things We Should Say No To Streamline Life
1. Simply working hard
One of the major things we should say no to is simply working hard. Hard work is a virtue, a very important life tool. But without a smarter approach, it can lead to frustration. Working hard but smart too gives us the most out of our time, energy, and resources.
Work hard, but analyze your progress from time to time. See whether there’s a better way. A faster, simpler, and more efficient way of approaching things. It will make things move in the right direction at a nice pace, freeing up time to unwind, relax, & recharge.
And when we can see tasks getting completed one after the other, it makes us more confident in our abilities, more satisfied with life.
2. Setting popular goals
The second thing we should say no to is setting certain goals in life just because we are supposed to. Like, get your degree by a certain age, a career by another, get married, win a significant promotion, and so on.
That might work for some. But, if it doesn’t involve things that excite us, or demands a pace that makes us feel hassled, maybe it isn’t the right one for us.
One of the most successful people of our time, investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffett also believes it to be so. He says, everyone’s wired in a particular way. And if the things we choose to do are not in sync with who we are, even if they bring some amount of success, they won’t bring much satisfaction.
And to feel satisfied in life, it’s important to understand our unique qualities, and focus on those opportunities that make the best use of them. It’s a habit that’s guaranteed to make life feel more satisfying and meaningful no matter what level of success we achieve.
3. Say No to believing you cannot change
It’s important to stay aware of our limitations. But when we start defending them saying things like “that’s who I am” because we believe we can’t change, they start to limit the possibilities in our life. So, another thing we should say no to is championing our limitations. As brain coach Jim Kwik says,
“If you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them.”
If an app we really want to use requires a speed our computer doesn’t support, we upgrade the hardware on our computer. It’s the same idea for the goals we want to reach and the type of life we desire.
We have to be able to offer those things that they demand and that means we may need to upgrade some skills or qualities. But if we believe we can’t change, then the gap will never be filled.
It’s important to know what our priorities are in life and how much are we ready to negotiate them for others’ requests. That’s called having healthy boundaries in life – limits beyond which we aren’t ready to extend ourselves.
The art of saying No is a life skill that not only helps manage stress better in our life but also makes it more meaningful and uncomplicated.
Check out the video above for 4 more key things saying no to which makes our life feel more satisfying.
