It happens to all of us.
We get excited about those new shiny opportunities people show us.
You hear about X person making big money in the X industry, and naively overlook the hardship, time, and money required to get the same results.
Or maybe you feel like you can’t reject co-founding that business that your friend invited you to, that you deeply know is going to fail and doesn’t interest you.
But here’s the harsh truth:
You are just looking for a new stimulus, or novelty, to escape the boring work that needs to be done, or some wall blocking your path that you don’t want to climb.
And you shatter your attention and priorities, ending up doing a lot of things badly, rather than mastering one .
The reality is that you can earn money in literally any industry, even the old boring business like Storage Centers, Bookkeeping, Car services, etc.
You just gotta be able to stick to it and do the boring work for long enough without getting distracted by shiny new things along the way.
Harnessing the power of your compound efforts .
1. The Zoobo story (and his love for shiny things)
Every time a new opportunity arises, Zoobo wants to be involved.
After all, what if he misses one of them and it’s the opportunity that could have changed his life?
He doesn’t have any priorities, just behaves according to his fear of missing out, and his impulse to look for shiny new things when motivation is lacking.
The result?
He does 7 completely different things badly and lacks any clarity and priorities in his life.
He has a friend tough, Sam, who has a completely different approach:
Instead of saying ‘yes’ to every new opportunity he always defaults to ‘no’.
He knows that new opportunities are a distraction to his progress in the long term.
He says ‘no’ to what is not important, so he can say ‘yes’ to what is actually important.
He has 1 big and great business/career, and is considered a tough leader in his industry – the fruit of his ability to stay focused and neglect shiny new things that don’t really matter.
Always clear about his objectives and priorities.
Here’s the takeaway:
If you want to be great at something, you need to stop to try to be good at everything.
There are always trade-offs when you choose to join that new shiny thing.
If you choose to pivot before you can get the compound results of your focused effort. You don’t allow yourself to thrive.
Remember:
“It’s only by saying NO that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.”
2. The 4-Step Framework for saying ‘no’
It is hard to decline shiny opportunities for the sake of your long-term priorities.
I agree with you on that.
However.
If you understand how saying ‘yes’ kills your focus and progress on the things that really matter to you, you may find it easier to decline those distractions.
Here’s a framework to keep in mind:
- Know your priorities:
“It is simple to say no when your priorities are in order.”
- Know what triggers you:
Look back on your life, and think on what triggered you to impulsely jump into a new opportunity.
- Always default to ‘no’:
Was it something that happened around your work? A certain problem that appeared? Is there a pattern?
Make the habit of protecting your time, focus, and attention from distractions, so you can use that attention to what matters.
- Say ‘no’ gracefully:
Step 1 : Express gratitude for receiving the invite
Step 2: Acknowledge it’s a wonderful opportunity
Step 3 : Say you thought about the offer carefully
Step 4 : Point to why you need to say “no” (overcommitted, deadline, personal rule, blanket policy, etc.)
Step 5 : Wish them luck and say you know the project/event will be a big success
Bringing it home
A quick review:
Don’t be like Zoobo and his love for shiny things : instead focus on being great at one thing, not mediocre at a lot of things.
The 4-Step Framework for saying ‘no’:
Know your priorities : it is simple to say no when your priorities are in order.
Know what triggers you : what makes you impulsively want to jump into new opportunities?
Always default to ‘no’ : protect your time, focus, and attention to your priorities.
Say ‘no’ gracefully : Express gratitude, acknowledge it’s a wonderful opportunity and that you thought about the offer carefully, and point to why you need to say “no”.
I hope you got something valuable in this edition of Curiosity Fuel, and thank you for reading, it means the world.
It’s always an honor to be in your inbox, until next Sunday. 👋
— Idris Moura
