Monday Memo #21
Say no.
The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
Your life is made of moments, strung together like pearls on a string. In the end, these moments are all we have, and all we ever will have. If we live each moment well, these pearls will add up to a life well-lived.
There are things in life that you can’t control, but to some degree you can choose what you want to do with your time: who you spend time with, how you spend that time, what you do when you’re alone, and so on. The time available tends to fill up, and before you know it, you’re too busy to take on anything new.
In some ways it feels good to be busy. It can improve your self-esteem by giving you a sense you are needed, in demand, and important to have around. Busyness serves a purpose.
But it can also get in the way. Because busyness is all about others, it makes it easier to ignore your own needs. The busier you are, the less breathing room you have in your life for new possibilities.
Your time is a limited resource. There are only so many moments in a day, and therefore only so many moments in life. You can’t do everything. So out of all the possible ways you can spend your time, what do you choose? How do you choose?
In order to say yes to anything, you need to say no to a thousand other things. So getting better at saying no is an important skill — an important first step.
If you haven’t done this already, the 80/20 rule is a great way to free up time on your calendar. Focus on the 20 percent of your activities that generate 80 percent of the impact you care about. You can create a lot of free time by eliminating the low-impact activities.
Learning to say no can help you reduce busyness and make space in your life for new possibilities to emerge.
Exercise.
Make a list of polite ways to say no. This week, review the list before you say yes to anything or put anything on your calendar. If you’re struggling with your list, you can get some inspiration from these articles: How to say no. How to politely say no.
Make some breathing room for your future self.
Upcoming:
In our next Collaboratory with Ingrid Lill we will be learning about visual thinking for business. It’s happening on Wednesday, May 15th, from 9 to 10:30 AM Pacific, (that’s Noon to 1:30 PM Eastern, 5 to 6:30 PM BST).
Collaboratories are free for members. Members also get access to the Collaboratory recordings and AI summaries. Become a member today.
Campfire calls.
Our Friday Campfire calls are free to join, anyone is welcome, and we talk about things that are fueling our creative energy and inspiring us. The energy is infectious. Even if you’re stuck, or don’t feel like you have anything interesting to add, if you have the time, join anyway. I promise you’ll enjoy it. Instructions to join the Friday Campfire and/or add it to your calendar.
Collaboratories.
Our Collaboratories are like a conference in possibility, spread out over the course of a year. Twenty-four workshops, on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
Collaboratories are held on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. They are free for members. Members also get access to recordings of previous collaboratories and the full email archive. You also get a warm and fuzzy feeling of being part of a community and supporting our work. It’s only $20/month or $200/year, kinda like Netflix for Possibilitarians. Become a member by upgrading your subscription.
The Collaboratories are a great way to connect on a regular basis and sample ideas of interest to our members in a fun, interactive, mini-conference format. We are planning upcoming Collaboratories with Ingrid Lill, Jono Hey, Jorge Arango, and Mike Parker.
As of this week we have 64 members. The first 100 members will lock in the $20/month, $200/year rate.
If you’re already a member, thank you. You’re making this possible.
More information for members is below.