When I started my first business in 1972, I thought that there was but one important word in this business, and that word was profit.

Hey, profit is a pretty powerful word, I’m sure you’ll agree. But is it the most important word in a successful and growing business? I say NO!

And I mean NO --- because it is this word, NO, that most certainly is the most important word in business. And it may well be the most important word in life as well.

But man is it tough to say!

Here’s the conundrum. We all want to be successful. And, success is generally tied to people being pleased. Customers? Well, you must please customers! Employees? Well who do you think does the work around here? And don’t even get me started with family! (Try NOT giving your kid that Popsicle!)

Did you ever notice how downright impressed you are when a parent or a boss simply sits a child or an employee (and I make NO correlation here, though others are free to!) and patiently explains to him how it is that he cannot “have his way”? You think, “That was marvelous! I have to do that the next time someone imposes on me!”

And then the Board of Directors of whatever charity calls and you say, “Sure. You can count on me. I’ll be there every Tuesday and Friday for the next seven weeks as we prepare for the annual dinner gala.”

You hang up, grind your teeth, and promise that you will NEVER say, “yes” again.

But you will.

Your best customer is raging. Your top salesperson promised a delivery three weeks before you can possibly get the work done. And you knew this. And you let it go by.

Why? Well, happy customer, of course. And, don’t forget that this is your top sales person --- you sure as heck don’t want him upset!

So, you create a happy customer in the short-term. But in the LONG term, the happy customer probably leaves you anyway because:

1. He realizes that you lied to him, and
2. Even if you “pull the order out of the fire”, it will likely be shoddy work, still delivered late, and with three other customers paying some ancillary price! (Of course, your SALESMAN still gets full commish and while you are cleaning up his mess, he is free to go out and create another one!)

In both cases, all it would have taken is a simple no. Coupled, of course, with a patient explanation of reality and a willingness to deal with what will likely be a painful discussion in the sort term.

But this is what it’s all about. Short-term pain, Long-term gain.

And not the other way around!

Remember, every time you take a shortcut, you are merely deferring long-term pain. Long-term pain, like matter, never merely “ceases to exist”. In fact, unlike matter, long-term pain deferred actually GROWS! Because it begins to include such things as penalties, interest, and user fees. (See, the banks aren’t the only ones in this business.)

So --- how do you get to NO? How can YOU get that magic word to just roll off of your lips like it does for those people you so admire? Well, just like anything else --- it takes practice. And, you start by starting.  Today.

Example: Next time, carefully listen to whatever request is being made. Here’s one now! “Ah, Tom --- can you take that flight to New Jersey tomorrow, I’ve got to work on the Stewart deal.” But instead of your usual acquiescence, you SHOCK THE WORLD and instead say, “No boss, I really doubt that I can but I’ll re-check my schedule anyway and get right back to you. But I’m sure that you of all people know that my work is planned for the next seven days and I have almost no room at all to change my schedule.”

Yes, I know --- IT’S THE BOSS!  But here is where it gets to be FUN!

You see, you don’t “just say no” right off the top of your head. Instead, you:

1. Are able to schedule your life so that you have the balance that you need among your family (remember, THEY are gong to need “no’s” as well!) AND your business AND your recreation.
2. “Buy a little time” - putting your particular parasite on hold until you can think through and then make a logical case for saying no in the first place.

Notice I didn’t say, “lie”. Always tell the truth. But if you are a productive and important member of your organization (and you should be, or the boss wouldn’t be asking you to fill in for an important trip at the last minute!), your superiors will respect your own scheduling situation.

The first few times you use this magic word; you’ll be a bit shocked. First of all, people who know you and regularly take advantage of you (which is really what is going on here) will not know how to react. In time, you’ll find yourself using the word more and more --- you’ll eventually find yourself reveling in its power!

And in a shorter while than you might think, you’ll see order and sanity come into your life. And isn’t that the goal in the first place?

The power of NO. Think about it … practice it as diligently as you practice your golf swing. And pretty soon, you won’t even need that after-dinner drink!