Saying "no" so you can say your "best yes"

You will receive a lot of advice.
You will receive a lot of information.
You will have many great ideas and dreams.
People who love you will tell you what you should do and how you should do it.

And you must determine your "best yes" if you will do your best work. 

In finding your best yes, you will turn away some good advice, you will take some paths others won't understand, you will pick some dreams over others at a given point. 

Last week I delivered a talk on creating and measuring strategic business relationships. And we discussed the concept of saying "yes" to opportunities until you have to say "no" so you can focus on your "best yes." There are times in our lives and careers where we say to invitations, opportunities, and assignments to build connections, fellowship with others, develop skills, expand our ability, gain visibility and more. There are other times, and those times are often, where we need to say "no" so we can focus on the big picture goal or priority in that season of our lives.

When we begin to say "no" we will disappoint others. For many of us saying "no" is very hard because we are driven by people pleasing, meeting external expectations of others, or not feeling left out. How people react to our healthy boundaries when we say "no" is another blog post. But for now: Question what drives your "yes." 

Know your best yes. And practice saying no - "No" so you can say "yes" to your "best yes."

What is the big picture vision you are working towards, or the priority in your life this season? Tell me in the comments how you are saying "no" to make space for your "best yes."