Say No to Something Good

For the first few years, the answer to every question is yes.

Should I quit and do this on my own? Yes.

Should I take that ugly customer? Yes.

Should I answer the phone at 9pm on a Saturday? Yes, obviously, are you insane, that's money calling!!

That's how it works in the beginning. YES is the engine. YES is how you get off zero. Every YES is a door, and you're broke & just getting started, so you walk through all of them.

And it works. You say yes enough times and eventually you have a business. A real one. Revenue, employees, a pipeline, the whole thing.

Then something weird happens.

The yeses get worse. You yes yourself into a day to day you might not love.

You've got the (some….never enough) money. You've got momentum. And you're still saying yes to everything, because saying yes is the only muscle you ever built.

I want you to do an exercise. It's the one that turned the corner for me.

Identify something (ideally an inbound opportunity) that would make you more money. Real money. Money you know is sitting right there for the taking. And say no to it.

Say no precisely because it's a good deal.

Nobody tells you this when you're grinding your way up.

There is no amount of money that makes the phone stop ringing with MORE MONEY.

You think there's a finish line. You think if you just close a few more, land a few more accounts, add one more service line, you'll hit the number and then you'll relax and enjoy the freedom you supposedly built this thing for.

There is no number. The opportunities are always there and there is always more money to chase.

The only way you ever stop chasing it is you decide to stop. And the way you practice deciding is by saying no to a coin you could easily grab.

Say no to something good

Most people have no problem saying no to bad deals.

This exercise is harder than that.

I want you to wait until something lands in your lap that is clearly, obviously worth doing. A new customer. A side gig. An easy upsell. Something where the math is right there and the answer is supposed to be yes!

And I want you to say: no thanks, I'm not going to do that.

Feel how much that costs you. That flinch, that "but it's EASY MONEY, what am I doing" feeling. That flinch is the whole point. It's the muscle you never built, and it's the one that actually sets you free.

Try it this week

You don't have to blow up your revenue to do this.

The next marginally-more-money thing that shows up, the one that makes you a little richer and your life a little worse, turn it down. On purpose. Out loud.

Then watch what happens. You'll survive. The money you turned down will not be missed. And you'll have proof, for the first time, that you're the one holding the leash.

It’ll change your life. It did mine.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor"