Hey, it’s Matt. Thanks for reading. In today’s issue: How to say no. How to not care about saying no. First time reading? Sign up here. Read it online here.

Thanks for your opinion.

↓

I used to say "no" all the time.

Newsflash: I still do.

One of my bosses used to complain about it.

"If you are going to say no, give me options"..

I'd often see the downstream negative impact of decisions and would try to steer away from them. I'd also see my workload going up.

These days, I have a better approach.

I try to find a "who" to help me, and turn it into a yes. I've been looking through LinkedIn this weekend to find some help with something. Hopefully, I can delegate it.

If I can't find help, I'll move onto the next option: "Not right now". I'll defer it.

I'll look at all my other work. Anything I don't need to keep doing? I'll discard it and make room.

Do it, Delegate it, Defer it, and Discard it. Those are the choices.

What I won't do?

80 hours of work a week to get a bunch of "Yes" checkboxes marked.

Even though it's my company. Even though it makes my revenue.

Fact is - I promised my remaining "Yes" to my wife and kids. And my running shoes. And my violin. And my books.

If some work takes a little longer, so be it.

Call it stupid or native. Tell me I'm a bad businessperson because I don't put the business first.

"Cool. Thanks for your opinion."

That's the beauty of working for myself. I live and die by my decisions. And I don't give a shit about opinions like that.

I'm spending my time doing what I want.

​

How we got our kids back. My wife and I share how we got our kids off the ipad. Get the Series

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Business and Results Coaching - I'm a sounding board, a second brain, results coach, an accountability buddy and a partner rolled into one. Startup Deep Dive - We'll go deep into your startup, find out what's working and what's shirking. We'll put together a roadmap to get you moving faster than ever. And we'll keep in touch to make sure things continue to skyrocket. On-call Founder Support - just want to have a second set of eyes or help solving problems from time to time? I can do this. ​ ​You can book a call with me here.