[00:00:00] Leah: Part of canceling the chaos and becoming more confident and embracing more calm and getting more organized in all of that, a lot of your power comes from saying no. But I want to make a little shift and I want to talk about five times when you absolutely should say yes. Here’s the thing about me. I have a tendency to be very all or nothing.

[00:00:27] Leah: I often joke that I’m still working to install the dimmer switch in me. I’m either all in or I’m all out. And there’s been a lot of times in my life where I got so excited about no to try to create that balance, get rid of the feelings of being frazzled that I said no in places I should have said yes and looked back later and thought, ah, I didn’t do that right.

[00:00:54] Leah: So today I want to talk about the five times when I believe we as women should say yes. Okay, let’s jump in.

[00:01:07] Okay, so no is a very important word. It’s one we need to be comfortable with, but yes is important too. So here are my five times we want to say yes. Number one. It is something that only you can do. There are a whole lot of places where I am going to say delegate, outsource, or just get rid of it completely.

[00:01:56] Leah: But there are things that only you can do. And when that is the case, you absolutely should say yes. am especially talking about Our relationships, I am especially thinking of in our marriage with our kids, there are times and things where we, we’re the answer, we’re the one that they need, and we want to be careful to not be so busy to not be so stuck on knows that We don’t say yes to those opportunities to connect.

[00:02:34] Leah: There’s also things in our business where it’s like, this is the thing that made my business be a business. It’s what gets my clients super excited. It’s my secret sauce. It’s my zone of genius. And in those areas, again, often that’s maybe not the right place. You have to say no. That’s where we say yes.

[00:02:55] Leah: Now, it might evolve. It might change. It might look different. But just paying attention to is this something that only I can do? That also means that there’s a whole lot of times when you’re going to ask that and the answer is honestly, well no, lots of other people could do this. Okay, that might be something to let go of.

[00:03:12] Leah: Number two. You Now, this isn’t always a yes, but ultimately, I like to run everything against a test. Can it make me more money? Can it save me more time? And if the answer is yes to those, to one of them, I’m excited. If it’s yes to both of them, it could make me money and save me time, I am like ecstatic. If it can make you money, that might be a really good thing to say yes to.

[00:03:39] Leah: Now, not always, because not all opportunities are created equal. There are definitely. Opportunities that are going to be presented as very, very sparkly and shiny and exciting. But the honest truth is, they are in absolute opposition to being able to be a great mom, a great wife, being present, being able to take care of your health, to have any downtime.

[00:04:04] Leah: So in those cases, I’m going to be like, that is a hard pass. But when I’m looking at my personal business, where I am the boss and I get to make the decisions. And I see an opportunity, I see potential to be able to add an additional revenue stream and I think it could be a really, really good fit or work with a client or something that could just really help?

[00:04:27] Leah: It’s often somewhere where I don’t want to get in my own way and I need to say yes. As long as I have those good boundaries in place. Number three, it can save you time in the future. I’m always surprised how people will say no to taking a few minutes now to set up an automation or a system that could save them.

[00:04:49] Leah: hours in the future, if I see potential to save time in the future, it is a absolute yes for me. 

[00:04:57] Leah: In fact, a very, very silly, funny example of that is my iRobot. So, you know, my, my robot vacuum, we call him Fred. There’s George and Fred, one’s upstairs, one’s downstairs. We love Harry Potter. Well, it’s a really expensive purchase. And. It felt very indulgent and yet that saves so much time future forward because it’s vacuuming three times a week.

[00:05:27] Leah: I wouldn’t vacuum three times a week and it’s keeping everything feeling so much more clean and I don’t have to take the time to do it. It’s amazing. So it’s saving so much time for the future and of course sitting down and setting up the systems and the automations in our business so that behind the scenes things are just happening, information is being sent off, people are getting what they need, but you don’t have to manually sit down and do it.

[00:05:50] Leah: Oh, taking the time to put those things in place so that you have more time in the future. Yes, yes, yes. Number four, it genuinely lights you up and gives you energy. We as women, we’re natural nurturers and we’re really good at giving of ourselves.

[00:06:10] Leah: Sometimes we give so much that we start saying no to all the things that we used to love, that brought us joy, that lit us up, that made us feel vibrant and gave us our energy and you can look around and realize, oh my gosh. I canceled all of it. I literally canceled fun out of my life. I have been guilty of that.

[00:06:31] Leah: I absolutely remember those first early years of being in business. And I’m trying to figure out how to do it all. You know, I’m, I’m supposedly living the dream. I’ve only been in business a couple years. Reach six figures and beyond. I’m able to stay home with my kids and take care of all of our finances and it should look amazing.

[00:06:54] Leah: But I looked around and there was no fun left because I had canceled everything that brought me light. That brought me energy because I didn’t think I had time for it. I recently joined a pickleball club. I have it in my calendar as pickleball party. It’s every Tuesday morning. I love it. It’s like my favorite thing.

[00:07:16] Leah: And I can tell you that I have these moments all the time. Oh, I don’t know if I should go. There’s so much I need to do. And then I stop myself and I’m like, this is a yes because it genuinely lights me up. It gives me energy. I get to connect with these beautiful, amazing women who are so inspiring and so much fun.

[00:07:34] Leah: And, you know, I get, I’m getting my workout in. I always make sure my watch is on. I’m like, I want credit for this. So if it genuinely lights you up, if it gives you energy, it’s a yes. And number five, if it feels scary, But also in alignment with the next chapter of your life. Oh, please say yes, please, please say yes.

[00:07:59] Leah: I remember hearing once that there are these incredible ideas that want, they want to be born. They want to have their time to shine and they will land on someone. They will land on someone who could be a great carrier, a great champion for that idea to bring it to the world. And they’ll give them the chance, but if they won’t do it, then the idea will go to somebody else because that idea is so desperate to be seen by the world.

[00:08:31] Leah: I think about that all the time. I think about when I, when I get an idea, am I going to be the one to bring it to light, to bring it to the world, or am I going to hesitate? So much and so long that the idea leaves me and goes to somebody else. So if it feels scary, but also very much in alignment with the life that you dream of with the experience that you want to have both for you and for your family, say yes, please say yes.

[00:09:08] Leah: There absolutely needs to be times when we say no. We have a tendency to say yes in a lot of areas where it should be a no. And we need to be able to say it. We need to be comfortable. We need to say it in a way where we don’t feel like a jerk. And in fact, I have an entire episode. You can scroll to episode 60, which is the people pleasers guide to saying no.

[00:09:32] Leah: There is a time and a place for no, and it’s probably more often the answer than we utilize. But there are also times when we need to say yes. When we need to say yes to fun, to connecting, to being all in and present with our kids and with our friends and with our spouse and with our sister and Maybe even just the lady at the grocery store who just needs to be seen.

[00:10:00] Leah: She just needs someone to see her and maybe you get to be the one that takes that extra couple minutes and gives her that gift. There are times when yes is absolutely the answer. And so as we’re navigating, I hope you will think about and ask yourself, is this a no time or is this a yes time? And definitely if it feels scary, but also so in alignment with all of your dreams.

[00:10:29] Leah: It is a yes. If you can see an opportunity where a little bit of work now could save you hours ongoing, reoccurring in the future, it is a yes. If you see a moment when you realize they need me right now, if at all possible, let it be a yes. If you have teenagers or about to have teenagers, you are about to learn the lesson of nighttime, which is that, for some reason, teenagers Tend to really be ready to open up and have a conversation when you’re ready to close down and go to bed.

[00:11:10] Leah: I cannot tell you how many nights I was just crawling into bed so excited to go to sleep. Calculating and ecstatic over the fact that I was going to get plus eight hours when one of the kids comes in, sits on the bed, and I realize they want to talk. And every single one of those times, my mind would think about how I have to wake up at 5 a.

[00:11:39] Leah: m. Or it’s going to be so hard to do my workout if we keep talking. But I said yes. And I can tell you right now, I don’t regret a single one of those yeses. Did I miss a few workouts? I sure did. Did I feel extra tired on several of those days? Absolutely. But would I go back and do it again and again and again?

[00:12:04] Leah: Yes, yes, yes. So I hope you will look for when is the right yes, when is the right no. Trust your gut. Just trust your gut. And Give yourself permission for whichever one is needed, but in this case, to say yes to the things that light you up, to the people that matter most, and to your, your happiness and your peace.

[00:12:29] Leah: That is it for this episode of the Balancing Busy Podcast. I cannot wait to dive in and talk about another area of our lives where we can find more balance and more bliss. That is my goal for both of us. I’ll see you next week.