Today we turn to the importance of saying no in order to become the best leaders we can be. While every yes we say creates a no, we must also at times start with no. What I mean by that is one of the simplest paths to greater productivity in our lives is to say no to things we ought not be doing in the first place. For example, several years ago, we developed a series on spiritual disciplines called Working Out! The series made the analogy that developing the disciplines of prayer, Bible study, fasting, giving and fellowship require the same type of discipline as gaining physical strength and fitness.
One of the results of that series for me was I evaluated the amount of time I spent playing video games. I have never been much of a video game player, but one of my habits was to play a game of solitaire or spider solitaire as a “reward” for accomplishing a task. When I finished writing a message, I would play a game. The problem for me was I am rather competitive and I don’t like to lose, so I would sometimes play until I won, which might take half an hour. That meant I would play a video game ten minutes or a half an hour or sometimes an hour on a daily basis. As I thought about the concept of working out, I realized: If I just stopped playing solitaire I would have more time to pray, read my Bible and do other productive things with that time. So, I said no to solitaire. If that means freeing up only ten minutes a day over two and a half years thats more than 1500 hours I’ve freed up for other things.
Wow! No is a powerful word isn’t it? When we say no to doing the things we ought not to be doing in the first place, we free up our lives for so many more yes’s. No is a word that applies in areas other than time usage. For example, back in August I said no to drinking caffeine for about the seventh time in the last five years. I tend not to do many things half-heartedly, so I drank a couple cups of coffee a day, a glass or two of iced tea, and generally a Dr. Pepper each day. I didn’t really notice it having much of an effect on me. But when I wouldn’t drink caffeine for half a day, I got a headache. If I went cold turkey from caffeine for a couple of days the headache would become intense.
I’ve been through this process a number of times as I’ve said, but in August, when I determined it was time to get serious about everything, I started with eliminating caffeine. I went through the major headaches for a couple of days, and felt lethargic. I travelled to Cambodia a couple weeks after starting the decaffeination process, which wasn’t the best thing to do, since the eleven hour time change really messed with my sleep patterns, but now that I’m about two months into it, I feel much better physically. I will say nearly every time I drink a glass of water instead of a Dr. Pepper I think about how much better a Dr. Pepper would taste. The double benefit of saying no to Dr. Pepper is eliminating a lot of high fructose corn syrup which is not at all good for us.
So, what is it that you have said no to in your life in order to be healthier, or in order to demonstrate a commitment to being a more effective leader in the various areas of your life? What do you need to say no to now or in the coming weeks in order to do so? You know I’m going to ask questions nearly every day, because the unexamined life isn’t worth living, so we must examine our lives. What one thing if you said no to in your life, would bring a positive change in your life? It could be a big thing or a small thing. I heard a lady coming out of the convenience store the other day say to her mother, “Hey, I need a couple more bucks. I didn’t realize your cigarettes were going to cost $7.00. If I smoked I’d have to get a second job.” I thought to myself, “$7.00? If you smoke 1 pack a day that’s more than $2,500 a year.” I a person said no to smoking he or she could take a 10 day mission trip to Cambodia every year. (I know most people don’t think that way, but what would you do with $2,500 a year if you are a smoker and you said no to one pack a day?)
Why not take ten minutes right now to consider what you need to say no to in order to be or become a more effective leader than you are right now? While “Just say No!” may not have been an effective means of eliminating drug use among young Americans, it can be and is an effective means of eliminating time and money wasters, and bad habits that affect our health and well-being. While you may not think you have the discipline to follow through with your no, think of all the yes’s your no will bring and focus on them. If you follow Jesus call on Him to strengthen you by the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill your commitment to whatever you no may be. I know it isn’t easy to stick with our no’s. Trust me, I’m not on the seventh time of saying no to caffeine in the past several years, because I’m always successful at following my own advice, but the freedom I’m experiencing from headaches, and from depending on an external source for extra energy makes it easier to keep saying no all the time.
Here’s to leading better by saying no to one thing that’s getting in the way of being the best leader you can be–today!