We’ve all seen the popular ad campaign urging kids to “Just Say No” to drugs. Of course, there are many other things besides drugs to which we should say NO. Some of those things can even affect us like drugs.

Some people are hooked on saying yes. Every time someone asks them to do something, they say yes, almost like an uncontrollable impulse. It feels good to indulge every request.

But that’s surface-level thinking. The deeper truth is that every time you say “yes” to one thing… you are saying “no” to something else. You may be saying “yes,” but the answer is still no.

I recently had a client who was asked to do something in his community. The request itself was an honor. It felt good to be asked… but in his heart, he knew he needed to say no.

Declining this honor was hard, but fulfilling the request would be harder. He said no.

When I asked him how it made him feel to say no, he said it actually felt good. He was relieved after he made the decision. The relief came when he realized that he would not have to say no to more important things in his life because he said yes to this request.

Saying NO to good things gives you the freedom to say YES to great things.

Where do you need to say no?