Before You Say Yes to Anything Else This Summer, Read This

Summer’s almost here, and the calendar is filling up fast.

Trips, weddings, graduations, projects, weekends, invitations, opportunities, asks. Some of them are gifts. Some of them are obligations dressed up as gifts. And most of them, if I’m being truthful, get a yes before I’ve actually thought about them.

That’s the problem. Most of us say yes on autopilot, and then we wonder in August where the summer went.

Warren Buffett says the difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything. He didn’t say successful people say yes to the right things. He said they say no to almost everything, because every yes has a hidden no attached to it.

So here’s the question I’m working with heading into this summer, and the one I want to hand to you:

What am I saying no to if I say yes to this?

That question alone will change how your summer feels.

Because if you say yes to one more weekend trip, you might be saying no to the rest you actually need. If you say yes to one more committee, you might be saying no to dinner with your family three Tuesdays in a row. If you say yes to one more good thing, you might be saying no to the great thing that’s been waiting on you to make room for it.

And then there’s the harder version of the question, the one I keep coming back to lately:

If I say yes to something I should’ve said no to, that means I’m saying no to something I should’ve said yes to.

That one always gets me.

The cost of the wrong yes isn’t just a busy calendar. It’s the thing you were made for that didn’t get your time, your energy, or your attention because you gave it to something that didn’t deserve it.

This summer, before the reflexive yes, ask the better question. You’ll be amazed at what you make room for when you stop giving it away.