In an earlier post, I wrote:
Up until about my late 30s, I took pride in saying “yes” to opportunities, absolutely filling my time relentlessly with variety and quantity of work. I used to call myself a “specialist generalist” as indeed I worked in so many countries, types and sizes of businesses that I do feel I could effectively contribute to a massive variety of roles and businesses almost anywhere. However, as time went by, I began to recognise (and friends and mentors began to strongly suggest to me) that I started to say “no” to more and more opportunities in order to focus on my own Ikigai:
What I am best and most uniquely suited to do
What I love to do
What the world needs
From the post: Focus means saying no
This, then, brings real attention to how to say yes:
Two simple rules that make saying yes harder and saying no easier:
1. Don’t say yes on the spot.
2. When you do say yes to something, schedule when you’re going to do it in your calendar right away. Book twice as much time as you think it will take to do it right.
Both rules are helpful but the second rule is perhaps more important. Scheduling the work helps you realize that saying yes has a very real cost. By schedule double the time, you’ll avoid over-committing and have the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities that arise.
from the most recent Farnam Street newsletter by Shane Parrish
I do generally adhere to both of these rules, though do leave room for quick and instinctive “hell yes!” moments, as well as leaving space for serendipity (as I say, I am always active, never busy, see more thoughts in: “Be Intentional with Time“).
My core thought, then, is to be intentional with your time, recognise what you want to use it for. With that absolutely clear and firmly in mind, I then very much agree with those two rules above. What do you think?
PS I’d love to give you a link to that particular Farnam Street newsletter, but it is another site that only shares their newsletter content to those who give their email address. That is a point for another day, simply to note that my current belief is centred on abundance, so all my content is always posted online without the need to subscribe. Those who do subscribe by email simply get a digest email twice a week to make it easier for them to see what catches their eye, as daily posting does generate a LOT of content 😉