NO-vember: Time To Say No to Meh So You Can Say Yes To The Best

By Erika Fehrenbach Prell

It’s right in the name. NO-vember. What a perfect time to practice that all important time and energy protector...saying no. This is so important to live your very best life but, alas, it is used way too infrequently. John Maxwell hit the nail on the head when he said to “say no to the good so you can say yes to the best”. 

The truth is we typically don’t say yes to horrible things...those are easy to say no to. If we are being completely honest with ourselves and where our time goes, we say yes way too often to ‘meh’ things. Things that aren’t horrible but do not serve us the best. Things that do not add to our joy, fulfillment, purpose. Things that drain our energy and take away from our lives rather than add positivity and joy to it. By saying 'yes' to the ‘meh’ rather than saving it for the best means our precious time is taken up. So, when that best yes does appear, that thing that will be a light in our lives, we have no choice but to say no because we can’t fit it in. Ugh. Tough but truthful pill to swallow.

That’s the bottom line, DreamChaser. We only have so much time, and it’s time to be intentional where we are spending it. This is one way to get on the path to our best lives! NO-vember is as good a time as any to get started with this practice. Why? A mind hack is very helpful to remember to act differently, to interrupt that automatic response of saying 'yes' before we can think about if that yes serves us. Thinking it’s “NO-vember” allows us a moment to pause and assess so we can be intentional. Being intentional means we are participating in our lives, we are choosing our adventure, instead of going into automatic mode.

Need a little more help? Here is the SoulShine Best Yes Checklist. Before you say ‘yes’, ask yourself these questions:

Does this commitment...
-Give me a sense of purpose?
-Fill me up?
-Add to my feelings of worth?
-Give me enjoyment?
-Align with my priorities? 

If the answer to any of these questions is no, say no to the commitment. It really is that easy...don't overthink it! I encourage you to take it one step further. Too often, a feeling of guilt of letting people down fuels our ‘yes’ to commitments. It’s okay to say no - there is no guilt to be had in your pursuit of your best, most fulfilled, fun, inspired, intentional life! So, once you have said no, let it go! The SoulShine Best Yes Checklist can also be used to assess current commitments, those meh yes’s of the past. Want time back in your life? Use this checklist to assess your current obligations and let go of those that are not serving you, those that are not your best yes.

Let’s get our NO-vember on and practice saying no to ‘meh’ so we can say ‘YES’ to the best! Shine on!