Chapter 17
JUST SAY NO
In the process of becoming the beautiful butterfly you’re destined to be, you’re going to have to make a lot of new decisions. A powerful new weapon in your butterfly-destiny-arsenal is the word “No.”
One would think that the word “No” would be easy to use. It contains fewer letters than the word “Yes,” but “Yes” seems to be the crowd favorite.
“Wanna get wasted tonight?”
“Yes!”
“Wanna do hood-rat stuff with your friends?”
“Yes!”
“Wanna go to this party, even though you have to work in the morning?”
“Yes!”
“No” is a valuable word, in regards to resisting destructive temptations. However, it can also come in handy when it comes to invitations or tasks that don’t really make you feel good. Do you really want to go golfing at 7 am, or are you just doing it because your boss is pressuring you? Do you really want a second helping of food, or are you just doing it to make your mother-in-law happy?
“No” is a powerful word to begin using; it conditions the people in your life to understand that you have boundaries. “Yes men” are often seen as weak, and tend to get taken advantage of. As you become a more conscious human being, you have to be willing to be strong enough to say “No” to projects that don’t serve your highest good.
If it isn’t absolutely necessary, or doesn’t make you feel good or empowered, just say “No.”
I applied this wisdom while working for the radio station. My talent was best administered while I was on-air. Something interesting was always happening on my show; it was highly structured. If it wasn’t a topic of discussion (with listener interaction), it was a game, or a prank phone call, or a contest. Never a dull moment. My ability to interact with the listening audience and structure a consistently compelling show was second-to-none. In my opinion, this was why I earned a paycheck. I created a great show; it attracted a loyal listening audience; ratings were solid and the station could generate abundant revenue based on my performance.
However, the “radio norm” has always encouraged personalities to spend time wandering around the station, wasting time doing much of nothing, so they’d feel like they put in a “day’s work.” I tried that out, under the guidance of new bosses, who would always come in and want to “shake things up.” Ultimately, it never lasted long. I’d have to eventually explain My Truth on the matter: “Sorry man, but wasting time sucking-up at the radio station just isn’t my cup of tea. I’d rather be at home—in my own environment—generating creative ideas for the show.”
I had to express the same truth when it came to certain weekly meetings. From my perspective, they were pointless. I understand the promotions team needs to meet with the sales team to brainstorm promotional ideas. The programming staff needed to be in the loop, so we could execute the ideas. But all I really needed to know was, “Here’s what’s going on. Here’s what you need to do.” The meetings were just a pointless waste of my time. I had to wake up early, leave my house, drive to the station, sit in a meeting, drive back home, wait a couple hours, drive back to the station that evening and do my show.
From my perspective, nothing really got accomplished. Everybody just sat around gossiping or shooting off “What if we did this?” ideas that never materialized. I saw it for what it was—a complete waste of an hour to give the impression that work was getting done.