The Power of No

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn

Highly successful people have learned the word “no”.

That is the reason they are paid more and promoted faster. When you truly want to do something, like sleep in late, but you don’t because you know that you have a deadline to beat, you’ve said no to yourself. Women especially have a hard time using this word. But it’s a fight that can be won. Learning to say no to yourself will catapult you to untold success.

Who’s your favorite actor? How do you think they got there? Do you think any hard work or sleepless nights played a part? I think so too. What about your favorite athlete? Did they just wake up and miraculously become the best in the world? Nope. The same goes for you. You have to be willing to live uncomfortably for a while in order to achieve true success.

Grab a piece of paper and write down exactly where you want to be career wise in three years. Next write down what you have to do to achieve that. Then write down in small steps how you will go about achieving it.

Think of it this way, when you go to the movies, the first thing you do is pay for the price of admission, then you go see the movie. Your career works largely the same. In order to be paid more and promoted faster, you have to pay the price first, by working hard and saying no to yourself, then you can reap the benefits later.

I don’t know about you, but I want some popcorn right now.

Meiko Patton is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.