What Does Your Yes Cost?

Try this before your next "sure, I can take that."

Look back over the last seven days.

Where did you say yes?

And what did each yes personally cost you?

Not just time. Attention. Energy. Emotional capacity. Time with people you love.

For years, I was the person people could count on. The problem solver. The one who could take on one more project and somehow make it fit.

Until I started asking a different question:

Just because I can, does that mean I should?

Being capable does not give you unlimited capacity.

Sometimes they ask you because they trust you. Sometimes they ask because you're predictably willing to take it on.

This isn't about saying no to everything. It's about knowing what your yes is actually worth.

A thoughtful no isn't the opposite of generosity. Sometimes it's how generosity survives.

I could be remarkably creative when finding room for another commitment. Less creative when it came to questioning why my own plans were always the easiest ones to rearrange. And sometimes I said yes simply because I had said yes before.

Looking at your last seven days, which yes would you gladly choose again, and which one wouldn't you?

Book 3 is dedicated to Jen Schomer.

#boundaries #leadership #burnout #peoplepleasing #musingsofarecoveringexecutive