Just Say "No"

Many of us may remember First Lady Nancy Reagan popularizing the phrase "Just Say 'No'" as she campaigned against drug usage in this country - particularly among young people.

I have borrowed her phrase to say that we need to be courageous and learn to say "no" to commitments on our time for activities that we don't enjoy, aren't that good at, or don't really need to be doing to concentrate on those areas where we can make a real difference and really contribute.

In my podcast message for today "JUST SAY 'NO'" (click to listen) I am not saying that this is an excuse to dump unpopular items from our schedule. Rather we must evaluate the time demands on our schedule and judiciously remove those items that aren't productive or can be done better by someone else to allow time for new appointments and committee assignments.

All of us have the same number of seconds, minutes, and hours in each day. As much as we'd like to squeeze in more time or bank some of the time for use at a later date, it can't be done. Time management is really a misnomer because the time goes by regardless of what we do with it.

We can just schedule and make sufficient time in our lives to accomplish what is important to us, such as family, business, spiritual, financial, fitness, health, and leisure. And we have to maintain a relative balance among those areas.

Saying "no" to new commitments or only saying "yes" when something else is removed makes it easier and more pleasant to live a peaceful life.

────

For more information about my consulting, teaching, and coaching services visit my website at stevehoffacker.com (click here to visit). I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain (click to access), and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.