![\"Happy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Happy-People-Image.jpg?resize=313%2C400&ssl=1\")
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This is the second post in my series exploring the 10 Daily Habits of Exceptionally Happy People, For the past two weeks I\u2019ve been concentrating on the idea of not saying yes when I really mean no.<\/span><\/p>\n Quite honestly, this was a pretty difficult task for me. I\u2019ve been very, very guilty of saying yes to more things than I could ever complete. At one point, when my kids were much younger I got talked into coaching seven youth soccer teams at the time. Five of them made sense, I had kids on those teams\u2026but I was also coaching two teams where none of the kids were my own. I actually coached all seven teams through both a Fall and Spring season. The league was pretty accommodating, making sure that I didn\u2019t have any games that overlapped, but there was a ton of driving (more like NASCAR Racing) between fields. In retrospect I realize that my kids got the short end of the stick. I was so busy working with seven teams of 14-17 players that my six athletes didn\u2019t get enough of my time.<\/span><\/p>\n That experience led me into the next year, which I dubbed the year of \u201cJust say Maybe\u201d. For that entire year, every time I was asked to do something of any significance, I said \u201cMaybe\u201d. Then I would consult my calendar and my family to see what they thought. Then I would assess whether accepting this new responsibility aligned with the goals that I had set for myself. If I had the time, the family was on board, and it matched my goals, I would get back to the organizer\/asker and accept the commitment. If any one of those wasn\u2019t a match, I would decline.<\/span><\/p>\n People were so used to me always saying yes, always taking on responsibilities, and always going above and beyond that I took a lot of heat for saying no. I actually lost some friends and angered some parents whose kids I\u2019d coached for years. I didn\u2019t take the criticism very well at first, and the angered parents still haunt me to this day. But I did make some tough decisions that year, and our family was better for it.<\/span><\/p>\n That was several years ago, and recently I\u2019ve noticed that I\u2019ve got far more on my plate than I can accomplish anywhere near as well as I would like. So I\u2019ve been working to divest myself of some responsibilities and activities that just don\u2019t fit. Once again, I\u2019ve been taking heat. One parent actually had the gall to say \u201cBut half your kids are in college now, you have tons of time\u201d. As if having kids in college completely frees you from any interaction with them!<\/span><\/p>\n So a couple of weeks ago, I really started to think about the \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cno\u201d answers in my life. I carefully considered every single request that I received, and spent a great deal of time trying to determine if the request matched my larger goals. Of course, that meant that I really had to assess what those larger goals are.<\/span><\/p>\n Oddly, just thinking about saying \u201cno\u201d has led me to a very deep introspection about what I\u2019m trying to accomplish with my life and what kind of legacy I want to leave. It\u2019s kind of funny to think that saying \u201cno\u201d has led me a very deep exploration of what my real purpose is.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve also noticed that I\u2019m much more serious and engaged with those activities I\u2019ve accepted. I\u2019ve truly committed<\/b> to them. In the past, I would often say \u201cyes\u201d and then engage in a half-hearted way. I would end up slightly involved, but I wouldn\u2019t be proud or pleased with the result of my partial effort. Over the past few weeks, I\u2019ve been much more engage in the activities that I\u2019ve accepted. And most importantly, I\u2019m really proud of the results that I\u2019ve achieved.<\/span><\/p>\n Sure, I\u2019m not doing as many individual tasks as I\u2019ve become accustomed to. But every one of them that I\u2019m involved in has my full attention and energy. Honestly, I think everybody is better off for this higher degree of involvement. And somewhat unsurprisingly, I\u2019m happier about it. So maybe I\u2019m beginning to move towards being one of the Exceptionally Happy People that are referenced in the list from which this comes from.<\/span><\/p>\n How about you, have you considered not saying yes when you mean no? Maybe it\u2019s time that you think about it\u2026and couple that with really enthusiastic \u201cyes\u201d answers to those things that you want to commit to!<\/span><\/p>\n Make it a great day!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the second post in my series exploring the 10 Daily Habits of Exceptionally Happy People, For the past two weeks I\u2019ve been concentrating on the idea of not saying yes when I really mean no. Quite honestly, this was a pretty difficult task for me. I\u2019ve been very, very guilty of saying yes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[29,43,50,89,90],"class_list":["post-1025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-productivity","tag-family","tag-home-office","tag-kids","tag-work","tag-work-life-imbalance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n