Time to Fall Forward by Learning to Say ‘No’

Is it time to kick it up a notch by saying no?

As we savor these last few weeks of summer, it is easy to feel the excitement with a dash of fear over the coming weeks. Fall has always felt like a second new year in the travel industry. Busy, busy, busy!

Perhaps the twinge of fear stems from seventeen years of going back to school. We leave one grade and move on to a new, higher one.

Last week, as we were snuggled on the sofa watching Scooby Doo, I asked my grandson Henry if he was excited to be going into Grade 2? He smiled but said, “No, I would rather not.” I felt a deep level of empathy for his unspoken dilemma: Grade 2 – a new frontier, the great unknown – versus hanging out at home watching Scoob.

As I reflect on the imprinted cycle of going up a grade every year, I wonder if that is why we approach September with a mixture of anticipation and a slight pit in our stomachs.

We all know how the saying goes: We need to face our fears and do it anyway.

Yet too often, what we fear is our tightly packed calendar. It is our FOMO (fear of missing out) on an opportunity that keeps us saying yes, yes, yes!

In his book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown writes,

“When we try to do it all, we lose the focus required to excel in the things that truly matter.”

When we set our sights on achieving great things, we have the best intentions. Yet without focusing on what truly matters, we are into the vicious yes, yes, yes cycle.

I love his quote:

“If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”

Over time, saying yes becomes a habit. Suddenly we have a commitment calendar that keeps us locked into our previous grade.

We need room to grow into the next grade, without a teacher giving us the lesson plan. We need to formulate it for ourselves.

This fall, what is one obligation you could say, “No, I’d rather not” to?

Making room for a shift means letting things go. The bigger the shift, the stronger the urgency to stop doing things. It doesn’t mean they don’t matter. They just don’t matter as much.

Making progress is about trade-offs. We need to purge to surge.

You can stop by eliminating altogether, slowing down, or finding someone who can do it for you.

Those are the decisions that will free you up to kick it up a notch this fall by doing less to achieve more.

What will you stop doing? I’d love to hear what is on your “stop doing” list.

Geraldine Ree helps Travel Agency Owners grow their business and engage high-performing teams. Learn more here, discover more here, and Find out more here.