Pod Insights The $100 MBA Show MBA2667 Why I Never Say Yes To Anything Immediately About this episode Ever agree to something too fast—and wish you hadn’t? Those automatic yes’s can quietly drain your time, energy, and focus. What if pausing before you commit could reshape your reputation and give you back control? In this episode, you’ll explore strategies to protect your time, prioritize wisely, and filter your decisions with confidence. Omar shares a practical script, everyday examples, and a minimalist mindset to help you build a habit of thoughtful yes’s—and guilt-free no’s. Ready to upgrade how—and when—you say yes? Tap the play button at the top of the page to get started. Related Episode:MBA2509 Extended Interview: Derek Sivers – How to Build a Business in Your Unique WayWatch the episodes on YouTube: https://lm.fm/GgRPPHiSUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Small business owners, listen up. You started your business, but you can't do it alone. And that means you have to hire people to help. That's where Justworks comes in. Justworks is the payroll, benefits, and global hiring platform to unburden your brain from all the complicated small business stuff. They handle the things you can't afford to get wrong, so you don't have to worry. So you can focus on the parts of running a business that you enjoy, knowing everything else is running smoothly. You don't have to worry when it just works. Ever invest in something that seemed incredible at first, but didn't live up to the hype? For example, I really wanted to love the show Mad Men. I really tried to watch it and love it, but it just didn't do anything for me. As a marketer and business person, the show was a little bit of a disappointment.
0:45 Speaker 00 Marketers know that feeling. They optimize for the numbers that look great like impressions, but then we don't see revenue. LinkedIn has a word for that: bullspend. Instead, you can get the highest ROAS of major ad networks with LinkedIn Ads. Cut the bullspend, advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/MBAShow. Terms apply. There is one word I never say without serious thought, and that word is "yes." Why? Because every single time I say "yes" to something, I say "no" to everything else that matters. Whether it's a dinner invite, a coffee meetup, a podcast interview, or a spontaneous trip.
1:29 Speaker 00 If I say "yes" on impulse, I'm giving away something I can never get back: my time. And here's what most people don't realize: time is your most valuable asset. Not money, not attention, not even energy, because you can make more money and you can rest and regain energy. But once your time is gone, that's it. It's gone forever. We can't take that time back. So in today's lesson, I'm going to share with you exactly why I never say "yes" to anything immediately, and how that principle has helped me protect my business, my relationships in life, as well as my sanity, and how you can use it as well to level up your decision-making instantly. You're going to feel empowered. You're going to feel like you're valuing yourself and your time.
2:13 Speaker 00 But most importantly, you're going to make better decisions. Let's get into it.
2:23 Speaker 00 Welcome back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenhome, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to help you start, grow, and scale your business.
2:36 Speaker 00 Real quick, if these episodes help you in any way, hit subscribe. It helps us keep bringing you practical business insights three times a week for free. Thanks.
2:47 Speaker 00 Let's start with the dangerous cost of saying yes. Stay with me for a moment. Here's a little thought experiment I want you to do. Imagine someone walks up to you and asks you for $1,000. You wouldn't just say, "Sure," right? You wouldn't just like, open up your bank app and transfer them $1,000. You'd ask some questions, right? Say, "Why do you need it?" Maybe, "What's the return on investment? Can I even afford that right now?" But for some reason, when someone asks for a chunk of your time, we don't think twice. We say yes out of politeness, out of guilt, out of impulse, out of whatever. Just like that, we give away time like it's nothing, when most of us are broke on time. We're not sitting around twiddling our thumbs with billions in the bank with nothing to do.
3:31 Speaker 00 I find it absolutely insane how casual we all are when it comes to giving away our most precious thing we own, which is, yes, our time. Every yes is a no to something else, because you can only do a single thing at any single time. That might mean a lot of things. So if you say yes to somebody about something, about, let's say, a lunch, or whatever it might be, you're saying no to everything else you could possibly do during that time. You're saying no to focus work on your business. You're saying no to the gym. You're saying no to time with your family. You're saying no to even sleep. It's invisible, right? This cost of saying yes. But the cost is actually massive. It's so subtle, and that's why it's so dangerous. You have to be very careful about what you say yes to,
4:16 Speaker 00 because, again, your time is limited. So what do I do instead? I have a script I use every time. Yes, a script. It saves my butt every single time. And you can use the script, steal it, use it, my pleasure. And here's a script. Thanks for the invite. That does sound like fun. Let me check my calendar and my other commitments, and I'll go back to you soon. That line buys me space. It buys me a bit of time, and it doesn't offend, and more importantly, gives me time to think, right? To think if I want to commit to this thing that I'm being invited to. Sometimes after a few hours or after a day, I realize that invite didn't actually excite me, or that meeting could be replaced with an email instead,
4:59 Speaker 00 or that commitment doesn't really move me towards my goals, right? And here's the thing, most of the things you're gonna get invited to are gonna be things that you probably want to do. See, that's the thing. And the question here is not, do you want to do it? Is it the best thing to do with your time? I mean, it's easy to say yes to things you like to do. It's hard to say no when you know you should be doing something else. Let me give you a story here, a real example here to show you what I'm talking about. This year, I was invited to speak at a conference in Nepal. It was flattering and a huge opportunity. I mean, it was really exciting too, because you would get to go on these great hikes as a part of this conference, and I've never been to Nepal before. It seems like a great opportunity.
5:43 Speaker 00 There were a lot of big names that were gonna go and speak there that I'd get to meet. There were some old friends I could get to catch up with. But I didn't immediately say yes, because I used my script like I try to do every single time. I bought myself some time. And when I looked at the commitments I had on my plate for this year, the idea of international travel to Nepal, a week away, at least a week away, the prep time for my speech, getting ready for the trip, all that kind of stuff, and realizing that I will be at a commission for that week focusing on this conference. This opportunity was gonna derail me from a major project that I was launching and gearing up for.
6:26 Speaker 00 So it was very clear to me that this was a no, even though this is something that I'm excited for and it seems like fun. But my need to accomplish my goals is greater than my need to just fulfill my wants. I didn't say no to the conference, but more like I said yes to my business and what I was already working on. These are the tough decisions you need to make in business because if you say yes to everything, you're not focused. You're not really focused on a goal or a particular set of goals. And if every time you get an opportunity or a chance to do something else than your goals, those goals will get forgotten about and never get accomplished. And listen,
7:09 Speaker 00 I was honored to be invited to that conference and I'm sure it would have been fun. But it was the choice I had to make so that I can be true to my own goals, my own ambitions, my own priorities. The holidays are the season business owners get pulled in six directions. More calls, more requests, more chances for things to slip through the cracks. Hoping you catch it all isn't a plan. That's why today's episode is brought to you by QUO, spelt Q-U-O, the business phone built so you never miss a call or a customer. Ever have a lead call or text at 10:00 PM? QUO's AI agent handles both 24/7. It answers questions, gets to the details, and can text them a link to book an appointment. By morning, you've got
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9:35 Speaker 00 Here's the thing about saying yes in my world. If I say yes, I follow through every time, whether it's a team member, a friend, or myself. My yes means something, okay? Sometimes I say yes to something and I regret that I said yes, that I should have not said yes to this opportunity. I should have said, uh, thanks, but no thanks. But I follow through and I do it anyway because my word means something. So if I commit, I'm locked in and that's why I don't commit lightly. Because a cheap yes leads to broken trust, especially with yourself, which is one of the worst trusts to break, where you tell yourself you're gonna do something and you don't do it. And you just train yourself that you don't mean nothing, right?
10:18 Speaker 00 Your, your words mean nothing, your commitments mean nothing. And it tells yourself that you don't follow through and therefore you start believing that. If you ever feel overcommitted and then backed out in the last minute, you know the feeling of guilt and stress and resentment. Maybe you don't feel any of this stuff, maybe you're like, oh, whatever. But personally, when I say yes to something, it means something. And I'd rather just say no upfront before they expect me to do something than for me to reluctantly do something just because I committed to it. This habit doesn't just protect my time, it helps me build a reputation as someone who's reliable, someone who doesn't flake, someone who people can trust. People know in my circle of friends and my colleagues in business that if I say yes to something, I will do it. It's locked into the calendar.
11:03 Speaker 00 And I expect it to happen too. So if it doesn't happen, I will be disappointed because I'm just giving you my time. And then if you don't value that time for some reason, you decide to back out for some reason, it tells me a lot about you and how you value my time. But when people could trust your word because you are somebody of your word, that's powerful. When you stop just by reflex saying yes to things, you start respecting your time more. You become intentional about what you do and what you do with your time. You actually start hitting your goals because you go back to your goals, because you've got the bandwidth to do so now because you're not saying yes to everything. And people, they start respecting you even more. You know who does this masterfully, actually? Warren Buffett. He once said, "The difference between
11:48 Speaker 00 successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything." Think about that. When you say no to almost everything, that means whatever you say yes to, you are all in focused and you are committed to it. Because you have sacrificed all the no's, you've given, said no to everything else, because this really matters. Here's a quick exercise you could try this week, something simple that you could try to implement what you're learning today. Every time someone asks you for your time, now, we're not talking about five minutes of your time, but if they're asking for an 30 minutes of your time, an hour of your
12:26 Speaker 00 time, pause and use this line. Let me check and get back to you. Then actually check, does it align with your goals? Are you saying yes out of guilt or out of pleasure? Will this cost you more than it gives you? And if it's not a hell yes, it's a no, or at least not now. By the way, there's a great book on that topic called Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers. It's a great read. Practice this muscle. You'll be shocked at how much focus and freedom you gain. Now, what really helps when you're doing this exercise? Is maybe taking a few minutes beforehand, before you start doing this this week, and brainstorm, what are the three, four, five things in your life that are a hell
13:11 Speaker 00 yeah, things that you absolutely love, that you enjoy, that are a part of your life, part of your business, part of what you do. Okay. So for me, anything that helps me get better as a podcaster or grow the show, that's a hell yeah for me. On a personal side, I love basketball. I love snowboarding. I love poker. These are my three favorite hobbies I like to do. So if there's an opportunity to do one of these things, it's probably a hell yeah for me. Most of us, we have families, partners in life, you know, people that are important to us. So anything that helps my family, that helps me support them in any way, it's a hell yeah. So I prioritize that because if I don't, then I might not be able to do the things I actually want to do because I've already committed to
13:55 Speaker 00 things that are not a priority. So you see how it goes? So if I say yes to something else, that's just not one of those things on my list. And then there's a chance for me to support a family member of mine and show them that I care. And I can't do it because I already committed to something else that's not important. Ah, you know, tough situation here. See, that's why you need a little bit of wiggle room. You need a little bit of breathing room so that when the opportunity arises where you can do the things that are important to you, you can say yes easily. Look, I'm not antisocial. I'm not trying to live like a monk here. But I've learned the hard way that protecting your time is essentially protecting your life. If you want to build something meaningful, a business, a body of work, a legacy, you've got to treat your time
14:40 Speaker 00 like gold. And this takes practice. It's not going to immediately feel this way from day to night. The more you do, the more you start to realize how valuable your time is. So say yes slowly and no often. You should be saying no more than yes, for sure. And when you say yes, mean it with your whole chest, right? And be proud. Yes, this is one of the things I have to say yes to because I love these things. This is important to me. This is something I value. So when you say yes, you fully commit. Here's a little tip. If you're backing out of things, if you're canceling on people, if you are not fulfilling promises, then that's the clearest sign you're saying yes too quickly and saying yes too often to things that you don't want to do. So, I mean,
15:25 Speaker 00 why are you canceling? Because either you don't want to do it, or something else that you rather do came up. Okay, so slow down. No reason to say yes immediately. Slow down a little bit and understand that whenever you say yes, you're saying no to everything else.
15:42 Speaker 00 Thanks for tuning into the $100 MBA Show. If you love the show, keep tuning in and we'll keep on delivering practical business lessons. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow, and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now, whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically, and it's the best way to support the show. It's absolutely free, and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.
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Previous MBA2666 Q&A Wednesday: How Can I Make Time To Start a Business with a Full Time Job? Next MBA2668 Must Read: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins Page updated November 6, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated
