“The biggest fear most of us have with learning to say no is that we will miss an opportunity. An opportunity that would have catapulted us to success, or that will never come again. And most of the time, that simply isn’t true.
Grace Bonney, Saying “No”
I’ve found that the first part of learning to say no is learning to accept that offers and opportunities are merely an indication that you’re on the right path—not that you’ve arrived at a final destination you can never find again.
If someone is choosing you, it means you’re doing something right. And that is the biggest opportunity you can receive—the chance to recognize that your hard work is paying off. And if you continue to do good work, those opportunities will continue—and improve—over time.”
Quotes about Priorities
“You can buy a Plume Blanche diamond-encrusted sofa for close to two hundred thousand dollars. It’s also possible to hire one person to kill another person for five hundred dollars. Remember that next time you hear someone ramble on about how the market decides what things are worth. The market might be rational… but the people who comprise it are not.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 97)
“If you want to make every day an adventure, all you have to do is prioritize adventure. It has to become more important than routine.”
Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 87)
“If you put the jelly on before the peanut butter, the sandwich will fail. And if you try to spread the peanut butter on the plate and then add the bread, it will fail even worse. Like so many things, the order is not optional. And yet, we often do the least-scary or easiest parts first, regardless of what the order of operations tells us.”
Seth Godin, Blog
George St-Pierre | Read Matt’s Blog on this quote ➜
When you pay attention to detail, the big picture will take care of itself.
“Human beings exist as individuals and as members of groups at all times. I am one and I am one of many… always. This also creates some inherent conflicts of interest. When we make decisions, we must weigh the benefits to us personally against the benefits to our tribe or collective. Quite often, what’s good for one is not necessarily good for the other. Working exclusively to advance ourselves may hurt the group, while working exclusively to advance the group may come at a cost to us as individuals.”
Simon Sinek, Leaders Eat Last
Ryan Holiday Quote on How Love Is Best Spelled T-I-M-E
“A French journalist once told me that love is best spelled T-I-M-E. I don’t think I’ve heard anything truer or more important in my role as a husband or father.”
Ryan Holiday, Medium
Beyond the Quote (Day 404)
Without T-I-M-E there can be no L-O-V-E. And while time isn’t the only thing needed for love to flourish, it is undoubtedly the universal preliminary requirement. It is only with the shared gift of time that all other actions, experiences, and conversations can take form. It is as though time is the bridge that connects the island of one person’s energy to another’s. And without that bridge, a person’s energy can only remain stranded and alone.
Read More »Ryan Holiday Quote on How Love Is Best Spelled T-I-M-E
Epictetus Quote on Learning and How Our Willingness To Appear Clueless Is Key To Maintaining Curiosity
“If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters—don’t wish to seem knowledgeable.”
Epictetus, The Daily Stoic (Page 38)
Beyond the Quote (Day 395)
The moment you believe yourself to be knowledgable is the moment you kill curiosity. After all, if you know, you know. What more is there to be curious about? You can only be curious about things you don’t already know. Or, maybe better said, if you think you already know, then there’s no more “know” to add. The problem with believing you know is that it implies the task is completed. It’s a statement of being done. But, acquiring knowledge/ learning is lifelong—never something that is completed. Which is precisely why you shouldn’t even wish to seem knowledgable in any area of your life.
Read More »Epictetus Quote on Learning and How Our Willingness To Appear Clueless Is Key To Maintaining CuriosityTaking Care of Yourself IS Productive
“How can you think of yourself as a caring person if you don’t take care of yourself? If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll stop thinking of yourself as someone who has a lot to give. Instead you’ll feel deprived. And you’ll hate your life. How can you give others joy if you can’t give yourself joy?”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 9)
Beyond the Quote (Day 392)
Isn’t it strange to think how so many of us act like self-care isn’t a productive use of time? Like sleeping for 8 hours in a night is somehow costly? Or skipping a workout to do more office work is somehow admirable? Or spending time to take a break and recover is somehow wasteful? When in reality, it’s often the opposite that is the case.
Read More »Taking Care of Yourself IS Productive“For me, motherhood came with a litmus test: Is what I’m doing important enough for me to spend time away from my baby? If the answer was no, the task went the way of the Walkman cassette recorder—phased out. I was intent on doing what was best for my child, which, by default, was best for me.”
Alicia Keys, More Myself (Page 158)
Ryan Holiday Quote on Time Commitments and Learning To Say “No” To Wasteful Uses of Time
“One of the hardest things to do in life is to say ‘No.’ To invitations, to requests, to obligations, to the stuff that everyone else is doing. Even harder is saying no to certain time-consuming emotions: anger, excitement, distraction, obsession, lust. None of these impulses feels like a big deal by itself, but run amok, they become a commitment like anything else.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 11)
Beyond the Quote (Day 371)
How many time commitments do you have that you don’t even realize you have? I just recently started tracking my screen time on my iPhone and was shocked to see the results. Imagine if your mind had a “use-time” breakdown and showed you in a pie chart how much time you spent thinking about all of the things you think about every day. Would you be just as shocked as I was when I saw my screen time? I suspect even more so.
Read More »Ryan Holiday Quote on Time Commitments and Learning To Say “No” To Wasteful Uses of TimeJames Clear Quote on Hard Work and How Not All Hard Work Is Created Equally
“Success is never due to one thing, but failure can be. Sleeping well won’t make you successful, but not sleeping enough will hold you back. Hard work is rarely enough without good strategy, but even the best strategy is useless without hard work. Many things are necessary, but not sufficient for success.”
James Clear, Blog
Beyond the Quote (347/365)
Not all hard work is created equally. For some, specific kinds of “hard work” aligns with strengths, aptitudes, potentials, and interests. For others, that same “hard work” might call upon weaknesses. Even if the “hard work” that was tasked was the same, it wouldn’t have the same net result on the individual. It would cause a drastic difference in the amount of time, energy, and effort required. And if you want to optimize your time, energy, and effort in your life—then you should start by optimizing the type of “hard work” that you choose to do for this very reason.
Read More »James Clear Quote on Hard Work and How Not All Hard Work Is Created Equally
James Clear Quote on Saying No and How To Get Better At Saying It
“When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option. No is a choice. Yes is a responsibility.”
James Clear, Blog
Beyond the Quote (312/365)
This goes out to everybody who has a hard time saying, “No.“ Sure, saying no can be hard when you’re talking to a friend, family member, coworker, or even acquaintance. I get it. You don’t want to let the people you care about down. You don’t want to disappoint or upset those who ask you for a favor. You don’t want things to get awkward. But, as Clear points out above, what’s important to understand is that saying yes isn’t free of consequence in itself. It means you are saying no to every other option instead.
Read More »James Clear Quote on Saying No and How To Get Better At Saying ItSadhguru Quote on Priorities and How Discovering Your “Everest” Will Change Your Life
“You cannot be partying till early morning and attempt to scale Mount Everest tomorrow!”
Sadhguru, Inner Engineering (Page 223)
Beyond the Quote (298/365)
We all have an “Everest” in our lives. A challenge that surpasses all of the other challenges we could face and yet, excites us to our core. A challenge that we know is going to take every ounce of strength and vigor and focus that we have and yet, still entices us to step forward. A challenge that feels right. One which our whole lives have prepared us for and one that matches our drive to our potential; our talents to our interests; our aptitude to our attitude. The type of challenge that you would skip a full night of partying for because your mission is more important to you.
Read More »Sadhguru Quote on Priorities and How Discovering Your “Everest” Will Change Your LifeRobin Sharma Quote on Time Management and Prioritizing More Of What’s Important
“You must be ruthless with your time. Learn to say no. Having the courage to say no to the little things in life will give you the power to say yes to the big things. Shut the door to your office when you need a few hours to work on that big case. Don’t pick up the phone every time it rings. It is there for your convenience, not the convenience of others. Ironically, people will respect you more when they see that you are a person who values his time. They will realize that your time is precious and they will value it.”
Robin S. Sharma, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Beyond the Quote (285/365)
The first thing you need to figure out is which things are “small” and which things are “big.” If you don’t know the hierarchy of your tasks, how can you prioritize? How can you know what to say “no” to and what to say “yes” to if you don’t know where anything stands as matters of importance? Let’s take a closer look at how you might figure it out.
Read More »Robin Sharma Quote on Time Management and Prioritizing More Of What’s Important10 Ways To Become More Valuable (To Become More Wealthy) in the Marketplace
Excerpt: The secret to wealth is simple: become more valuable. How to become more valuable? That’s what this list sets out to provide. Dive in and good luck!
Read More »10 Ways To Become More Valuable (To Become More Wealthy) in the Marketplace
Herbert Simon Quote on Attention and How Eyes Communicate Priority
“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
Herbert Simon, via Stillness is the Key (Page 30)
Beyond the Quote (280/365)
The vast majority of the information that we use to process the world comes in through our eyes. Next most is through our ears. It follows, then, that where our eyes are pointed will determine where the majority of the information that we’ll obtain will come from. If our eyes are pointed at another person, the majority of the information that we’ll end up taking in will come from what we see while looking at that person. And the same is true if our eyes are pointed at a screen, at the road while we’re driving, at a stranger passing us down the street, etc. Eyes communicate priority.
Read More »Herbert Simon Quote on Attention and How Eyes Communicate Priority25 Replenishing Quotes from The Gift Of A Year on Rest, Recovery, and Self Care
Excerpt: These 25 Quotes from The Gift Of A Year will replenish your soul and put the emphasis of your focus back to where it’s most important—on you.
Read More »25 Replenishing Quotes from The Gift Of A Year on Rest, Recovery, and Self Care