No Hunting

Most of the noises my phone makes annoy me, but there’s a particular one that gets my heart fluttering. When an email notification bar pops up on the screen and I can see it’s a submission form from my business website (nortonstoneworks.com), it usually means one thing: a potential new project. 

Is there anything more magical?

When I don’t know anything about what’s in that email, I can project all my hopes and dreams into it. Maybe someone wants me to build a giant array of stone ruins, create the bones of a Japanese-inspired garden, or design and build a stone amphitheater. Maybe someone has a huge pile of stones and an equally huge pile of cash and just wants me to build whatever I dream up. It’s a moment of pure potential. 

I allow myself this little fantasy and then get back to the task at hand: soberly assessing the email and searching for a way to say no to whatever is inside.

I hunt for a way to say no to every project that comes my way.

I hunt for no’s so I can find the right projects to say yes to. Those are the projects that light me up, that align with my vision, that challenge me in the best possible ways.

This is easier said than done. It’s hard to say no for many reasons including financial realities, an assortment of fears, old habits, and more. There’s a system I use to help keep me on track, but that’s a topic for future posts (or maybe a whole book).

Do you have a process for deciding when to say yes or no? I’d love to hear about it.