Just Say No!

Recently, the family and I went to Florida for Disney World's Magic Kingdom. We were staying in a resort for FREE because a dentist that my wife worked for had a time share. 

When we checked in the resort, we were "lured" to getting a "gift" from the resort people. All we had to do was to sit in a presentation about time shares. We were told that it would be about an hour and after the presentation, we would get $60 in cash. Hey, that's not a bad deal, especially since we would get that cash whether or not we wanted to buy a time share.

On the next day, we met with one of the sales reps who was nice, showed us around the resort, talked to us about getting a time share, had us watch a short video, and offered us some doughnuts. But I knew that we were in for a hard sale. 

So, the presentation took about two and half hours! The sales rep threw all these numbers at us, trying to convince us that buying a time share would be the best decision to make, etc., etc. After nearly 3 hours, I finally told him that I wasn't interested in buying anything. And yes, you've guessed it. He didn't go down without a fight.

After several attempts of trying to convince me to get a time share today (right now!), he had a manager come over and talk with us. At this moment, I was so fed up that nothing they said would convince me to change my decision. The answer was NO! The manager did her best to convince me. No luck. Then the sales rep made a last attempt to change my mind. The answer was no.

Finally, the sales rep saw that he lost this battle. He was a nice guy, though. He finally had another person come over to arrange for us to get the $60. Finally, we're about to get out of here!

Well...not quite...

This last guy was funny, had my wife and I laughing, saying things like, "Nobody comes on a vacation to invest in real estate!" Yes, he understood where we were coming from. But...he was also using sales tactics: get my wife and I laughing to let our guard down so we could be open to another offer. I caught on to what he was doing and his jokes weren't so funny anymore!

He wrote down some offers for my wife and I to discuss. He left the table so we could "talk about it." There was nothing to talk about. Get me out of here! 

He came back, but unfortunately he came back to a NO. Then he started getting dramatic (in a humorous way). But I said, "We got to go!" And that was it. We received our 60 bucks. We sacrificed nearly 3 hours of our day, though.

Now let me point out that during this whole sales presentation, it was very tempting to just say yes to avoid any confrontation. Previously, I've been the type of person who was afraid of saying no. I didn't want the other person to make me feel bad. I didn't want any confrontation. I didn't want to make the other person angry. 

But finally, I came to realize that if someone had the guts to approach me about something that I didn't ask for, then I ought to have the guts to say no to their faces.

You know when you go to the mall and see sales folks looking for people to sell products to? Let's think about cell phone sales reps. They look around for people who seem approachable and say, "Excuse me, could I ask you a question? What cell phone plan do you have." Sometimes, these sales folks are bold enough to get in your face as if trying to ambush you. And if you were like me, you'd stay and listen to their presentation because you're afraid to say no.

But you know what? Just say no. Don't even give anybody the time to make any presentations. Just say no. And now when I go to the mall and hear a sales rep wanting to "ask me a question," I simply say NO and continue walking. 

It's hard to say no. Why? Nobody likes to hear no. Your children don't like to hear no. Your boss doesn't like to hear no. Sales reps, telemarketers, customers, clients, nobody likes to hear no.

But let me tell you something about the word NO. It's powerful! It's liberating! It gives you control of your life. It keeps your kids in check. It keeps your clients from bossing you around. It keeps your family from making you do something that you're not comfortable with.

When you're tempted to smoke a cigarette when you're trying to quit, just say NO. Don't be a slave to that addiction.

When you're tempted to cheat on your spouse, say NO. Don't let immediate self gratification ruin your entire marriage.

When you're tempted to go home instead of going to the gym, just say NO. You'll get such a powerful work-out that would make you feel good about your decision.

When you're tempted to give your kids everything they say, just say NO. Always saying yes would spoil them and turn them into terrors!

When you're boss ask you to stay later for the fifth time in a row, just say NO. You have a life outside of work. And if he wants to fire you because you said no, then look for work elsewhere.

His parents probably never said no to him...

When you're family pushes you to marry someone that you don't care for, say NO. You're the one who has to spend your entire life with this person.

When you're friends try to get you to accept a job that you won't like, say NO. Who is going to be working there: you or your friends

When you say YES, you're living for somebody else. When you say NO, you're living for yourself.

And when you say NO, you owe nobody an explanation. If you say NO, then you mean NO. It doesn't matter why. You just don't want it, so the answer is no.

When I say NO to my kids, I don't need to explain why. The answer is no because first of all, I'm the parent. What I say goes. Don't like it? Move out my house, get a job, and pay for your own way. Can't do that yet? Then if I say NO, then the answer is NO and I owe you no explanation.

When a sales rep comes to my house trying to sell their stuff, I just need to say no. Why? Don't worry about my why! The answer is no.

During the time share presentation, I made the mistake of explaining my NO. Why was that a mistake? Because sales folks are trained to respond to ALL kinds of objections. You see, when you give an explanation of your no, you're giving the other person a chance to convince you to change your answer. You don't want that! You said no because you're not interested! Period! Maybe the reason you said no is ridiculous. But so what? The answer is still no!

• Why can't I stay late for work? Because I don't want to!
• Why can't you have a doughnut for breakfast? Because I said so!
• Why don't I want to be a doctor when I grow up? Because I'm not interested!
• Why don't I want to buy your most expensive car? Because I don't want to spend that money on a car. Why? Because! That's why!

Yes, people would look at you funny, thinking that you're irrational, how your reasoning doesn't make sense. It's crazy to think that someone doesn't want to come on vacation to invest thousands of dollars on real estate right on the spot! Isn't that insane????

Yes, I'm being sarcastic.

But when it comes down to it, the only person who has to live with your decision is YOU. So, YOU make the decision that works for YOU, not for anybody else. 

Just say NO!

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