by Nins Mendoza

Last week, Ann and I walked away from almost a 7-figure deal. Crazy, right?

You may be wondering why. Let me share with you some of the thoughts behind our decision.

We are blessed and grateful to be able to do so. We have values and sanity that we protect.

We just don’t work with anyone. We have long identified the types of industries/niches and the characteristics of leaders or people we want to work with. Of course, there were times we made mistakes in the past by wrongly identifying or screening them. However, having a list is better than not having one at all.

We strive to work with people we trust, people who value excellence, integrity, and respect.

Despite potential benefits and cash inflow, we identified red flags and decided to say no to the deal.

Took a lot of courage to do so.

However, Ann and I are at peace with the decision not to continue with the project.

By saying no, we know it’s going to open a lot of doors for us and our team. And these doors are the ones we want to enter, with no hesitation and with full joy.

How did we do it?

We know who we are. And though we are far from being perfect, we have set certain standards for ourselves and for others. So if a certain project or offer, however tempting, doesn’t meet certain requirements, we say no.

We had clarity on who we want to work with, who we want to serve, and knew when to say no to the things we deem part of our non-negotiables.

We have faith, too. Faith that when we have the courage to say “No” to the wrong things, our big “Yes” is on its way (or we’ll look for it and continue to show up).

So, yes!

You can say “no” to opportunities you feel are not right for you.

You can say “No” to relationships, work, or business which doesn’t serve you well.

Say “Yes” to right opportunities, to right people, and to right paths.

If it’s not a 100% YES, it’s a NO.

And yes, we are a work in progress, just like everyone else.

We still make mistakes, we still thrive. We strive for excellence and work on becoming better every day.

And, we love the journey!