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Are you over extended and juggling too many balls? Find out how to say no and gain more control in your life. You have choices! A monthly ezine for organizations, business owners and professionals who want to excel.May 2002 IN THIS ISSUE Greetings and welcome to all of you. We are delighted to send you another issue of KEYS TO SUCCESS. Thank you for joining us. Our commitment is to give you practical information and inspirational ideas to benefit your business and personal life. We are committed to "bringing out your best"! We welcome feedback so we can improve and offer real value to you. Any questions about your subscription? Check the end of the newsletter for information to subscribe or unsubscribe. If you like what you see, will you please help us grow by forwarding the ezine to your colleagues and friends? We truly appreciate your support. GETTING TO NO Are you living life in the fast lane? How many balls can you juggle and keep your balance? It is easy to get caught in the mind trap that more is better and fast is good. We are so busy trying to do it all that we forget we can make a choice to slow down. I was reminded of this a few days ago when a client talked about how she completely overextended her commitments for the week. Her "yeses" far exceeded her "no" responses. By the end of the week she was feeling the effects of doing too much. Her normal zest for life was out of reach. The joy of the day was lost. In analyzing the situation, she realized her "yeses" came from wanting to please others and from a sense of obligation. She also didn't want to miss out on any potential business networking. Yes was her operative word. She filled her plate high with business, family, and volunteer activities. Her juggling act started falling apart. Her dilemma is familiar to many of us. Over extending has become a way of life. We buy into the idea we can do everything. We overbook our commitments and start feeling frustrated, exhausted, and overwhelmed. These are clues telling us it is time to examine what we are doing. Continuing in the yes mode can be detrimental to our quality of life. Why is it so difficult to say no? (1) You don't want to disappoint people. (2) You want to be liked by everyone. (3) You don't want to create conflict by rocking the boat. (4) It's just easier to say yes. There are many reasons why we hesitate to say no. What is yours? Learning to say no is like building muscle. It takes a lot of repetition to gain strength and confidence in your ability to say no with ease. You can implement getting to no using the following ideas. *Be realistic with your time. Trying to do just one more thing before you walk out the door is another way of pushing yourself to the edge. It's a silent yes. *Schedule down time for yourself on a regular basis. Ten minutes of quiet time will help calm your mind. Do this daily and you will soon be back in control and making conscious choices. *Set limits for yourself. Know what you are willing and not willing to do. Living a life based on "shoulds" builds resentments. *Set limits with others. Know where and what your personal and professional boundaries are. Stop tolerating people infringing on your time or in your space. *Set priorities. Decide what is most important to your for your business and your life. That becomes your absolute yes list. Everything else is a no. *Stop the automatic yes response. Take time to look at your weekly calendar with your most important activities already scheduled. Then make your decision. Remember, saying no to a yes is a sure way of getting to no! WORDS TO INSPIRE "My unhappiness was the unhappiness of a person who could not say no." "All the gold in the world cannot buy a dying man one "Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the 6 EASY TIME TIPS by Susan W. Miller A survey of 600 adults commissioned by the Franklin Covey Co. shows: 42% of adults report they too often feel "life is a treadmill and I can't get off." Consider the Law of the Slight Edge. When you use your time more effectively just one hour a day, 365 days a year (weekends, too), your yield would be an additional 45 - eight hour days. That's 1 1/2 months! What would you do with that 'extra' time? And that's how much time the National Association of Professional Organizers says professionals spend looking for things. That's 45 days of every year spent looking for stuff, time you could spend doing more of what you would really like to do! Here are six painless and easy tips to manage your time more effectively, tips to help reassign those hours now spent searching: 1. Ask yourself 'where would I look for this?' rather than 'where should I put this? when storing paper, possessions, or electronic files. The 'putting' part is easy. Finding things quickly and effortlessly is what saves you time. 2. Carry a folder of articles with you. This makes good use of small amounts of time otherwise spent waiting, while making a dent into your reading pile. 3. Create a mini-agenda for phone conversations. A planned call averages seven minutes. An unplanned call averages ten minutes. It is easy to see how you can maximize your phone time. 4. Set a time limit on your involvement in a task. The task will seem less boring or overwhelming if you know you will stop at a certain time. 5. Make notes to yourself for details that come up while sorting any pile. You can then address those notes one at a time later with the attention each deserves. 6. Use a spiral notebook to capture random ideas, to-do lists, and notes of phone conversations. The notebook creates reliability and consistency for storing information and is far superior to the back of an envelope. Any ONE of these tips can redeposit considerable amounts of time back into the bank of Your Life, to spend in ways that are more pleasurable and satisfying for you. It's your choice. (c) Susan W. Miller, 2002 All Rights Reserved This article provided by the Marketing-Seek Archives at: http://www.Marketing-Seek.com WORKSHOPS We are proud to offer The Business of Small Business program for entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay area beginning the middle of May. The three month program consists of 6 two-hour workshops and includes one hour of individual coaching each month. Fee is $200 per month and the class size is limited to six. Class locations will be in San Ramon and/or Concord. Through the concepts of Vision, Action and Spirit you will build a business that works for you. You will discover how to: +Breathe new life into your vision We accept Visa,MasterCard and American Express. Call Carol at 925-933-1051 for more information. 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