Taking the right steps to be successful is important. The right activities, actions, and attitudes are vital to success in all areas of life. Doing the right things is important. But it is almost just as important to avoid doing the wrong things.

And in order to avoid doing the wrong things that often means saying ‘no’.

Saying ‘no’ to thoughts, investments, invitations and anything else that isn’t going to bring people closer to their goals.

Saying ‘no’ is an important skill.

Saying ‘no’ to Some Demands on your Time

There are only 24 hours in a day and there are a myriad of competing obligations and demands on one’s time and attention. It’s important to reject those things that will prevent someone from being successful.

For example saying ‘no’ to staying up late because you need some extra sleep for an upcoming week that you know will be challenging. Maybe it’s saying ‘no’ to watching TV so you can read a book or learn a new skill. It could be saying ‘no’ to going out with friends if you should be spending that time doing other things. Or perhaps it is saying ‘no’ to spending money on something new that you don’t really need.

By saying ‘no’ to things that take you further away from your goals you can say ‘yes’ to those things that will help you achieve your goals.

Saying ‘no’ to Some Investment Opportunities

It’s important to say ‘no’ to mediocre or bad investing opportunities. When I was previously trading options I wasn’t always patient in waiting for the right setups, with the right combination of high implied volatility and option pricing. I needed to say ‘no’ to more of the bad option trades so I could make more profitable option trades.

It’s worth saying ‘no’ to investment opportunities that aren’t right so that one can pounce on the right investments.

Saying ‘no’ to Negativity

Attitude isn’t everything but attitude is still vitally important.

It is amazing what a change in attitude can do to even in the most horrific situations.

Being positive is something in it’s own right, but it’s also important to say ‘no’ to negative thoughts.

I find identifying negative thoughts I’m having, and working to replace them with positive thoughts is extremely helpful. It’s not suppressing negative thoughts, it’s realizing they are there and trying to find ways to reframe or re-evaluate a situation so that the negative thoughts are replaced by more healthy, realistic and positive thoughts.

Saying ‘no’ to negative thoughts can help foster a positive attitude.

I rarely enjoy saying ‘no’, wether it’s declining an invitation from a friend because it would interfere with something more important or not watching another episode on Netflix on Saturday because it’s time for me to go exercise. But it’s important to be able to say ‘no’ sometimes so that one is free to say ‘yes’ at the right time.