“Saying yes to one thing might be a no to other”


Book Presents you with a simple but very essential idea, of essentialism! 

Essentialism is a simple idea of only accepting what is essential, this includes work, requests, and opportunities. You should not be saying yes to everything. Because to avoid that temporary discomfort of saying no, you can get into some serious problems.


The author shares a personal story, when his new daughter was born, he was pressured to attend a client meeting. He knew what is right that he should be with his wife and daughter. But said yes to the meeting,  even he made his boss and coworkers happy when he attended the meeting the clients were very shocked and unhappy that instead of this stupid meeting he should be with his family, the author tells us that the meeting was not productive at all, and he was emotionally disturbed afterward.

Saying yes to everything is just a recipe for disaster, it makes you overworked and busy. And busy is not productive! You become more stressed and restless overall resulting in inefficient.


Many times when faced with the situation, people tend to forget that they have the ability to choose. You don’t have to say yes, this is called learned helplessness when the person has a lot of options but can not find any. Just taking a moment to relax can help to see new ways.

Before making any decision Essentialist ask two questions to themselves:

   what trade-off am I willing to make?

   What problems do I want?


Warren Buffet is one of the best examples of essentials, at an early age he realized that he can not invest in everything. So he only invested where he was absolutely sure and invested a lot! Taking only the best out of hundred good opportunities is the way to go. It should be Hell yeah! Or No!, either it should be hell yeah let’s do it, or no I can’t.

You need to give a new perspective to no when you are declining a request, are rejecting a request and not the person. The main reason for every yes is that you don’t want to hurt anyone. But it does not work like that. If rejecting a request offends them. I think you have the right choice.

You need to realize that in this era is everyone is selling something and you have to avoid falling for all, everyone is selfish so you need to be smart.


Having some free time in hand is very important and by avoiding always saying yes, you can get some. Free time makes you relaxed, encourages new hobbies, more time for family, more time for yourself! You need to master the art of awkward pause, when every presented with a request, pause for a few seconds take a step back and think about all the outcome and then replay. These pauses tell the other person that you are thinking about the offer and not just decline it right away.

You need to master the art of saying no and become an essentialist for a healthy and proactive life. People are effective because they say no because they say this is not for me.

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Happy Reading