BUSINESS COMMENT
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
AUGUST 2022 • 13
Learn the power of ‘no’
PERHAPS YOU CAN LOOK TO THIS COMING
CHANGE OF SEASONS AS ONE WHERE YOU
CAN REFLECT WHERE YOU ARE ON THE
BALANCE SCALE AND WHETHER THERE IS
ANYTHING YOU NEED TO SAY “NO” TO.
By Jessica Newhall
Clatsop Community College
Small Business Development Center
Having counseled hundreds of business own-
ers at the SBDC, I have found that the challenge
and peril of leaders trying to “do it all” is perva-
sive and fraught with a lot of tension. This quest to
achieve success in one’s career and be a great part-
ner, spouse, parent, respected community member,
friend, practice self-care and manage a household
can be daunting, if not impossible.
For women, the societal imbalances, particu-
larly in the home can add additional stress. A 2020
study by Oxfam and the Institute for Women’s
Policy Research found that women in the United
States spend two hours more each day cleaning,
cooking, taking care of children and doing other
unpaid work than men.
Regardless of gender, the reality is that often the
same characteristics of what makes someone a great
leader (the willingness and aptitude to step up) can
also be their Achilles heel. So, what is the solution?
Well, sometimes it comes down to learning how and
when to say “no.”
In my June article for this publication, I shared
my own personal mental health struggles as a result
of getting stretched too thin. When I started my
brick-and-mortar business after years on the road in
the media business and running a consulting busi-
ness, I was so excited to fi nally be able to be a part
of my community. I said “yes” to every opportunity
that came my way: committees, board positions,
partnerships, volunteer opportunities. I got involved
wherever I could — thinking it was what you were
supposed to do as a local business owner. My busi-
ness partner, who had decades more experience in
owning a business than me, saw this and counseled
to focus in on the opportunities that would have a
positive eff ect on my goals and our business. Well,
sometimes we must learn from our own mistakes.
I will never forget the time when I got the call to
Jessica Newhall
hear my home water had been turned off because I
hadn’t paid the bill — for months! I had just been so
busy that I just kept stuffi ng the bill in my purse as
I ran out the door thinking I would pay it later that
day. It didn’t happen and that phone call was the
proverbial, and later literal, cold shower wake-up I
needed to tell me to cut back and refocus my time
more eff ectively.
In the Clatsop SBDC’s Small Business Man-
agement Program we talk a lot about the practice
of “making time to work on your business, not just
in it.” This means taking the time to analyze, strate-
gize, forecast, and plan for growth. Many business
owners understand the need for this — but when it
comes time to do it, there’s little room for it men-
tally and time in the day. So they turn to the SBM
program as supportive, programmatic path towards
achieving that. Here are some of the guiding princi-
ples that we teach, all of which can apply to leaders
of any type of organization:
• Get clear on your goals. What do you want
to achieve, personally and professionally? How do
the various opportunities and activities you do or are
considering help you achieve those?
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• Prioritize. What is critical to the achievement
of your goals and what could you take off your list?
• Be proactive, not reactive. On the “Thrive
Global” podcast, Ashton Kutcher shared a produc-
tivity tip that he starts his day out by making a list
of all the things he wants to accomplish. Before he
responds to any emails or does anything for anyone
else, he shoots off all the emails, makes the calls
and does all the activities that further achievement
of his goals. It is only once he has done those things
that he turns to responding to others.
• Choose you and your goals fi rst. There is a
quote by Paolo Coelho on my refrigerator that says,
“When you say ‘Yes’ to others, make sure you are
not saying ‘No’ to yourself.” Give yourself permis-
sion to choose you and your goals.
• Question and evaluate before you say yes. On
an episode of Brene Brown’s “Dare to Lead” pod-
cast, the actor, director, producer, activist and leader,
America Ferrera once gave the following leadership
advice: “learn how to allocate the resource of you.”
Before you say yes to that board position, commit-
tee role, decision to attend a networking event, ask
yourself “how will this positively aff ect my ability
to achieve my (or my business’s) goals?”
• Learn how to get comfortable saying no.
Sometimes saying “no” can seem harsh and, if you
are like me, perhaps FOMO (fear of missing out)
can rear it’s ugly head. If you are worried about say-
ing “no” or closing the door completely, maybe try
just saying “thank you, right now is not the best time
— but keep me in mind in the future.”
I’ve always thought the fall was a powerful
time for a re-set. Maybe it’s the “Back to School”
energy or that the days grow shorter and there’s less
time for “doing” and more time in the evening for
refl ection? The Jewish New Year’s celebration Rosh
Hashanah always takes place in the autumn and is a
time of introspection, to look back at mistakes over
the past year and plan changes for the one ahead.
Perhaps you can look to this coming change of sea-
sons as one where you can refl ect where you are on
the balance scale and whether there is anything you
need to say “no” to.
Jessica Newhall is the associate director of the
Clatsop Community College Small Business Devel-
opment Center. She can be reached at jnewhall@
clatsopcc.edu.
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