I don't know about you, but I love having many irons in the fire. I love filling my schedule with lots of good things. In fact, my primary StrengthsFinder (a test you should take) strength of "Achiever" means that I excel at working hard to get things done. Not only that, but our culture has a performance bias, so we are externally compelled to get stuff done. This is not a bad thing. But so often, the bad things aren't what is keeping us from doing great things. I am a Yes Man. I love to make people feel accepted and I love feeling like I've been entrusted with a great task to bear. It's like a temporary high for me to know that I get to do something new and exciting. However, we can't say yes to everything. If we say yes to everything, you're really saying yes to nothing in particular.

Driven to Be Distracted

With the advent of the smartphone and internet, it is easy to constantly be absorbing information and sending it out. We can schedule work more easily than ever, make the most detailed plans using awesome apps, and cram our task list with an ever-growing list of things to do. And hey, I'm all for getting stuff done. God has designed us with a drive to enjoy the gift of work (yes, gift). With all that said, we are in grave danger of becoming so absorbed with good things that we have no time or energy to do the things that we most desperately want and need to do.

Saying No So You Can Say Yes

There is great power when energy is released in specific directions. Rockets work on this principle. It does us no good if the rocket just explodes in every direction. Instead, the structure of the rocket concentrates the blast and funnels it downward. It tells the energy where and where not to go. That is the only way to get it off the ground.

In the same way, we have to protect and funnel our energy by saying no to many things so that we can say yes to a few great things. Make a plan to stop being distracted. Make a list of goals in each area of your life for the next 90 days. This will help clarify what you care most about and give you inspiration to do it. Then, just start saying no to things that don't align with that. When you begin to focus your energy, you can overcome the gravity of the run you've been stuck in and will begin to see yourself accomplishing more than you ever have before.

Too often, we are distracted by so many good things that we cannot do great things.

If you're wondering how to stay motivated to pick a particular direction and keep going, check out my previous post called We Don’t Lack Ability, We Lack Incentive.

Question: 

What are you doing now that you need to say "No" to?