2021 is well underway and in the last few blogs I discussed setting the platform to make this the best year ever. I discussed how you must take a stand for yourself and the first step is to burn all of your boats, meaning that you let go of anything that did not serve you in 2020. We have lots of things that did not serve us including jobs we disliked, dysfunctional relationships, poor nutrition, laziness, negative thinking and bad attitudes to name a few.
Once you have decided to take a stand for yourself and burn all of your boats then the next thing you must do is to learn and utilize the most important word there is in the english language or any language: NO! Why is NO the most important word, you might ask? Let me explain.
You see, 2020 was such a difficult year for most people that in order to create a different experience in 2021, it is not enough to let go of what does not serve you. You see, once you have cleaned your slate and created space in your life, unwarranted and less than desirable people, projects, desires and habits can creep back into your life.
This is why you need to embrace the word NO and use it as much as possible to keep your slate clean. Let’s face it, everyone and everything out there is vying for your attention for all the wrong reasons. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve succumbed to a sexy marketing campaign that urges you to buy its product, if you’ve done other people’s bidding despite the fact that you have no interest in doing so or you’ve wasted hours watching mind-numbing shows on Netflix.
You need to protect your time and your space for what truly matters. This will be different for every person and could range from seeking a dream job, cultivating a beautiful relationship with a romantic partner, starting an online business, pursuing a hobby that you’ve neglected since childhood or simply taking time to just be with yourself and contemplate your existence and the grand universe that we live in.
Start out by saying the word NO out loud to yourself so you can become comfortable saying it when it truly matters. Don’t say it softly but as loud as possible and truly mean it. Now, think of something or someone in your life who is dragging your attention into the gutter and away from where you want to draw it, and say NO to that something or someone.Say NO like you truly mean it and never look back.
The more you practice the art of saying NO, the more comfortable you will become and the more success you will have with keeping your slate clean and creating the space in your life for the people and things that truly deserve your attention for your own personal growth and evolution.
Start saying NO right now and watch how your life transforms in ways that you could have scarcely imagined when you were allowing yourself to be pulled in every direction instead of the one you want to and should go in. The life you imagine for yourself is calling for you, so pursue it with passion and resolve by saying no to everything that does not take you in that direction.
Dr. Nauman Naeem