So I got invited to speak in an event
It's for a big company. They were offering to pay my full speaking rate
But for some reason my gut was telling me that this was gonna be a mistake
But I said yes anyway I
accepted the engagement, I went to go do it and
I instantly regretted it when I tell you the story in just a second first. Let's go get some coffee
So I always take you on my morning walk while I get my coffee the reason why is because as you know I run a
Online based business I work from my home office and all my employees work from their home offices
And I don't go out of the house and get coffee. I never leave the house
Even when it's cold out it's always great to just get outside of Manhattan
It's one of the most inspiring places in the world all right. Let me tell you what happens
I had this speaking gig and it was for a big company. They wanted to pay my full rate they agree
There was twenty thousand dollars to speak, and I'm like this is gonna be great. I'm gonna give a presentation
I already gave before everything is gonna go great then things started to go wrong red flag number one
They wanted to negotiate my rate after we had already agreed on the rate that I was gonna speak at at this point
I told them look we already agreed
We're not gonna change it so they kind of have we yes, then red flag number two now
They wanted me to meet with like ten different
People leading up to the event I've never had to do this before in my speaking career
And I've done a lot of speaking engagements for big companies for small companies
This whole meeting with people thing is just like what so that was an ex red flag third red flag is my gut was
Suggesting to me that it wasn't going to be a good idea
And I started to explain away that gut feeling that intuition that
Instinct I started to say like well, maybe I'm being
Here, maybe I'm just not seeing the positive so I explained away all these red flags
And I did it anyway and let me tell you
what a
Disaster now the reason why I ended up going wrong is because the speaking gig turned into this big thing where I had to change
My presentation, I wasn't able to say this
But I could say this I couldn't say this I could say that on addition. I had to do like 25 meetings
It just was a complete waste of my time
I'm sharing this because there's a lesson here the lesson is this as entrepreneurs and business owners sometimes we say yes to things
When we know we want to say no, and we say yes anyway
Why well partly because of FOMO you've heard a foam alright the fear of missing out
I said yes to this because I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to this speaking game
So I want to share with you three tips or examples that will hopefully make it easier for you to make better
decisions when it comes to these sorts of situations
So here's the first tip trust your gut if you think something's gonna be a waste of time
It probably is gonna be a waste of time
You might have manifested it by going there with negative intentions
But it's irrelevant if you can't escape those negative intentions, and it's gonna be a waste
Probably is so you should trust your gut the second tip if you have to find the yes
It's probably a no let me explain in the case of this speaking engagement
I knew it was gonna be a mistake the red flags were there
But I kept finding these would if scenarios that would make it okay
What if I could add it to my resume what if this opens me up to a new market?
What if I meet all these cool people?
What if what if what if and I use these what ifs to find the yes now here's the deal?
My gut knew this was a mistake
I knew nothing was gonna come of this speaking engagement, but I did it anyway because I listened to the what-ifs
What ifs almost never pan out we want them to and maybe one time in three years they do
but they almost never pan out and
if you're a new entrepreneur and you're pressed for time you can't be giving your time to these would've
Scenarios you need to be putting it towards something
When you know there's gonna be a result which leads me to the third tip you should never say yes to something
with a vague reason why you should say yes there should always be a
concrete
reason
very specific you're thinking about going to a network event who's gonna be at that event that you want to meet and
Why you're gonna say yes to a speaking gig if you need the speaking fee great
That's a good reason, but if you don't need the speaking fee
And you're doing it for all these other reasons that aren't as concrete
Don't do it, but I want to sum this video with one simple quote Richard Branson once said
Opportunities are like buses. There's always another one coming and let me tell you that's a hundred percent true
Especially as entrepreneurs and business owners. There's always gonna be another
Thing you can put your time into actually one of my other favorite quotes comes from Steve Jobs
And they were there was a conversation happening between him
And I think a journalist where they were like look at everything you've done
and he was like I'm actually proud of everything that I have not done the things that I said no to and
The reason why is because as you want to grow your business?
your income
Your life whatever you're trying to do at some point or another
You're gonna have so many things coming at you that you have to be
Super greedy with your time
You have to know when to say no, and you have to stick to it after the speaking gig
I actually chose to quit speaking not because I had a bad experience
I was running away
But because I was at the point in my business where I knew
Speaking was not going to be a good use of my time
And I just need that one more example that one more experience that would really just nail that home so for you
I know you're watching this and here's what I want to hear from you
Do you remember time when you said yes to something when you know you should have said no, but you said yes anyway
What happened share your story in the comments if you liked this video?
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You