However, I decided to end it after a few dozen episodes because it wasn’t helping me reach my creative goals at the time. I went back to podcasting later on when I had more time and it was clear that podcasting fit into my business and creative goals.

You can say “no” to something right now but it doesn’t mean you’re saying “no” forever. In times of high stress, you have to focus on what matters most right now. You might disappoint some people, or even disappoint yourself, but you can’t do everything. You have to choose.

Daily Question: If you are feeling stressed right now, what can you eliminate or postpone on your schedule?

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A few weeks ago, I said “no” to an amazing opportunity to help writers. This was an opportunity to partner with an entrepreneur I greatly respect, a person who has been very influential in my life. He was one of the first people to help me see that I could make a living with writing, and I’ve read his books and listened to his podcasts for years.

This opportunity would have let me help more people, expand my influence, and spend more time with people I highly respect. So why did I say no?

The answer is simple: I didn’t have the bandwidth to do a good job in this role.

I’m working on several ghostwriting projects, leading my Daily Writer Community, creating this podcast, and working on a couple of my own books. This is also my son’s senior year of high school. I’m definitely in time preservation mode since he will be out of the house and living on his own life before I know it.

Remember, anytime you say “yes” to one thing, you are saying “no” to a hundred other things.

Time is not infinite. You only have so much of it. So make sure you are saying “yes” to the right things for your season of life. Sometimes you will have to pass up amazing opportunities because the timing isn’t right. But you have to respect your existing commitments and realistically assess whether you can add something else to your plate.

In the case of the opportunity I mentioned above, it was important that I be able to do a good job if I committed to it. But the reality was that it would be something I was squeezing into my schedule, just trying to do the bare minimum instead of really giving it a good effort.

I have too much respect for the person who was offering me the opportunity, and too much respect for writers, to give something a half-hearted effort.

I hope you feel the same way. When you say “yes” to something, make sure you can do it well. Commit to a few things and put your full effort into them.

Then say “no” to everything else.

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