Leslie Robison: eight options to say no, with a bit of advice

from Leslie Robison's coaching and consulting blog:

Eight options to say no, with a bit of advice

https://www.masteryconsulting.net/post/yes-because-i-can-t-say-no

Here are eight options to say no, with a bit of advice: only the first four work to your advantage. Notice none of them offer a reason for declining. It’s your choice to explain your decision or not. 

1. No.

2. No, thanks.

3. Thank you for asking, but I can’t.

4. Maybe next time. 

5. Absolutely not! 

6. I would never do that!

7. Are you out of your mind? 

8. Not a snowballs’ chance in hell. 

Use them carefully, simply, and intentionally and protect your time, money, and peace of mind confidently.

On second thought, I already had plans for that time and money. Ask me another time. And thanks for asking. 

Leslie Robison, Coaching and Consulting

"the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces"

Isaiah 25:6–9 ^NRSV

⁶ On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
⁷ And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
⁸ he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

“May God in his mercy lead us through these times; but above all, may he lead us to himself.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who stood for Christ and against not just Hitler but also the Christendom of his day, penned this benediction from prison: “May God in his mercy lead us through these times; but above all, may he lead us to himself.” 

Diane Langberg, PhD
@DianeLangberg, https://twitter.com/DianeLangberg, Apr 11, 2021

"Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear."

 "Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear."

~ Mark Twain

"Some luck lies not in getting what you want but getting what you have . . . "

"Some luck lies not in getting what you want but getting what you have, which — once you take a good look — you may realize is what you would’ve wanted if you had only known. I’m not sure that sentence is grammatically correct but it’s true."

~ Garrison Keillor

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire."

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire."

~ Gustav Mahler
Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer and conductor, 1860-1911

"Most people do not admire enough."

"Admire as much as you can. Most people do not admire enough."

~ Vincent van Gogh, Dutch post-impressionist painter

Philosophy of Atheist Auguste Comte

 “Reorganisation, irrespectively of God or king, by the worship of Humanity, systematically adopted. Man’s only right is to do his duty. The Intellect should always be the servant of the Heart, and should never be its slave.“ 

—  Auguste Comte 
Title Page A General View of Positivism (1848, 1856)
Source: https://quotepark.com/authors/auguste-comte/

(note: Warren Buffet quoted Comte in in a 1985 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter regarding Berkshire’s failing textile businesses:  “I ignored Comte’s advice – ‘the intellect should be the servant of the heart, but not its slave’ – and believed what I preferred to believe.”)

“Nothing is destroyed until it is replaced.”

—  Auguste Comte
https://www.azquotes.com/author/3165-Auguste_Comte

“But now, I, August Comte, have discovered the truth. Therefore, there is no longer any need for freedom of thought or freedom of the press. I want to rule and to organize the whole country.”

—  Auguste Comte
https://www.azquotes.com/author/3165-Auguste_Comte

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt, philanthropist and First Lady of the United States from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office

"It’s you who can change the world.”

 “When the whole world is silent,
even one voice becomes powerful.”

“Do not wait for someone else to come and speak for you.
It’s you who can change the world.”

~ Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl's education advocate who, at the age of 17 in 2014, became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban

“There is nothing the resurrection won’t cure.”

 “There is nothing the resurrection won’t cure.”

Rev. Dr. Timothy Keller, Hope in Times of Fear

One by one, our comrades slip away

From Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Wind, Sand, and Stars.

Saint-Exupery is best known for his book, The Little Prince. He flew in the 1920s and 1930s for what later became Air France. In those days, accidents were frequent. Saint-Exupery writes about the experience of showing up at the airfield and hearing that one more friend had died.

Bit by bit, nevertheless, it comes over us that we shall never again hear the laughter of our friend, that this one garden is forever locked against us. And at that moment begins our true mourning, which, though it may not be heartrending, is still slightly bitter. For nothing, in truth, can replace that companion. Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak.

So life goes on. For years we plant the seed, we feel ourselves rich; and then come other years when time does its work and our plantation is made sparse and thin. One by one, our comrades slip away, deprive us of their shade. ⁴

⁴Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand, and Stars (London, UK: The Folio Society, 1990), 26.

'You can prove 'em right or you can prove 'em wrong."

Tom Brady reflects on his NFL Combine performance 17 years ago

abc, WCVB NewsCenter 5, FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Updated: 9:24 PM EST Mar 3, 2017

https://www.wcvb.com/article/tom-brady-reflects-on-his-nfl-combine-performance-17-years-ago/9090781

quote:

As many of the top prospects of the NFL Draft participate in the NFL Combine, a five-time Super Bowl champion offered some advice.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady reflected back on his own Combine experience, and shared his thoughts with the participants.

“This is what they said about me then,” Brady wrote on Facebook. “Poor build, skinny, lacks great physical stature and strength, lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush, lacks a really strong arm, can’t drive the ball downfield, does not throw a really tight spiral, system-type player who can get exposed if forced to ad lib, gets knocked down easily.”

Brady was selected with the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, and 17 years later, he is a five-time Super Bowl champion, four-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time NFL MVP.

“As Julian Edelman always reminds me… 'You can prove 'em right or you can prove 'em wrong,'" Brady wrote, as he wished the Combine participants the best in their performance.

"The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws."

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53311867 

BBC News - US & Canada

Cancel culture: What unites young people against Obama and Trump

Published 7 July 2020

quote:

Obama: 'The world is messy'

Last October [2019], former President Barack Obama challenged cancel culture and the idea of being "woke" - a term describing being alert to injustices and what's going on in the community - saying change was complex.

"I get a sense among certain young people on social media that the way of making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people," Mr. Obama said.

"The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws."

“Never let THEM define YOU‼️” @tb12sports

 “Never let THEM define YOU‼️” @tb12sports

~ Tom Brady, age 43, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, after winning Super Bowl LV held on February 7, 2021, as well as winning Super Bowl MVP

the only difference between an adventure and an ordeal

 “My daddy was a farmer. He used to say the only difference between an adventure and an ordeal is how you look at it.” 

~ Cindy, age 83, Feb. 17, 2021, on surviving the  storms, freezing weather, and power outages in Texas

“There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.”

 “There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.”

~ Robert Graves, British historical novelist, classicist, and critic

Leon Morris - why I write

"I hate writing. Perhaps this is because I write so badly.

The tool I use most frequently is the waste paper basket. But I still write. Why I wonder? To be practical, money has something to do with it I imagine.

But for one so far from the bestseller lists there must be many easier ways of staying alive. I think the basic answer is that a writer must write. To write is difficult. Not to write is sheer agony. I don’t like agony, so I write. 

And I write in the hope that what I write will be of interest and of help to those who read. I write on biblical topics for these seem to me far and away the most significant. I hope that writing and these topics will bring writer & reader nearer to God."  

~ Leon Lamb Morris (1914–2006),
Australian New Testament scholar, Anglican priest, University of Cambridge PhD on The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross

“The pastor should love his people extravagantly.”

“The pastor should love his people extravagantly.”

~ Robert C. Anderson, The Effective Pastor: A Practical Guide to the Ministry
(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1985), 365.

the eternal rules of order and right

"The propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right that heaven itself has ordained."

~ George Washington