MBA2667 Why I Never Say Yes To Anything Immediately

Summary

The $100 MBA Show: MBA2667

Why I Never Say Yes To Anything Immediately

Host: Omar Zenhom
Date: August 22, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this focused, practical solo lesson, host Omar Zenhom shares why he never says yes to anything immediately—a core practice that’s protected his time, business, relationships, and well-being over two decades as an entrepreneur. Omar dives into the hidden (and massive) cost of an impulsive “yes”, the transformative power of deliberate decision-making, and the exact script he uses to create space before committing. Listeners receive actionable advice for using no as a tool for focus, reliability, and respecting your own time.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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The True Cost of Saying Yes

[02:38]

• Saying yes without reflection leads to sacrificing your most valuable asset: your time.
  • “Time is your most valuable asset. Not money, not attention, not even energy. Because you can make more money and you can rest and regain energy. But once your time is gone, that’s it. It’s gone forever.” (Omar Zenhom, 01:28)
• Analogizes giving away time to giving away money: you wouldn’t hand over $1,000 without thought, so why do it with your time?
  • “We give away time like it’s nothing. When most of us are broken on time, we’re not sitting around twiddling our thumbs with billions in the bank with nothing to do.” (Omar Zenhom, 03:15)
• Every "yes" automatically means a "no" to everything else you could do in that time: focus work, family, rest, self-care, business goals.

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The Script: Creating Space Before Committing

[04:05]

• Omar offers a ready-made, non-offensive script to avoid instant consent:
  • “Thanks for the invite. That does sound like fun. Let me check my calendar and my other commitments and I'll get back to you soon.” (Omar Zenhom, 04:05)
• This script “buys time” and protects your ability to reflect before committing.

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Applying the Principle: A Real-World Example

[05:00]

• Omar shares a concrete story: invited to speak at a major conference in Nepal, he was excited, but the opportunity clashed with a critical business launch.
  • He used his script, reflected, and ultimately declined—even though he wanted to go.
  • “It was clear to me that this was a no. Even though this is something that I’m excited for and it seems like fun, but my need to accomplish my goals is greater than my need to just fulfill my wants.” (Omar Zenhom, 06:30)
• Says it wasn’t a no to the conference, but a yes to his business priorities.

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The Deeper Impact of a Thoughtful Yes

[10:12]

• Omar explains why, for him, every yes is a commitment he fully intends to honor—and why a “cheap yes” is harmful.
  • “My yes means something. Sometimes I say yes to something and regret it, but I follow through anyway because my word means something. So if I commit, I’m locked in. That’s why I don’t commit lightly.” (Omar Zenhom, 10:14)
• Flaking or reneging breaks trust, especially with yourself.
• Cultivating a reputation for reliability—your yes is trusted—makes you respected in business and personal circles.

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The “Warren Buffett” Standard

[12:08]

• Cites Buffett’s famous wisdom:
  • “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.” (Omar Zenhom quoting Warren Buffett, 12:08)
• The fewer things you say yes to, the more all-in and committed you are to what matters.

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Practical Exercise & Resources

[13:00]

• Exercise challenge: For any substantial time request, pause and say, “Let me check and get back to you.”
• Audit: Is your yes aligning with goals, or is it a guilty/impulsive reaction?
• If it isn’t a “hell yes,” it’s a “no” (references Derek Sivers’ Hell Yeah or No).

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Identifying Your “Hell Yes” Commitments

[13:44]

• Proactively brainstorm what are your “hell yes” projects, people, and priorities—work, hobbies, family.
  • “What are the three, four, five things in your life that are a hell yeah? Things that you absolutely love, that you enjoy, that are a part of your life, part of your business, part of what you do.” (Omar Zenhom, 13:44)
• Reserving time for those priorities brings more satisfaction, achievement, and avoids regret.

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The Final Takeaway: Protecting Your Yes

[15:30 – 16:20]

• Every time you say yes, you’re saying no to everything else.
• If you’re backing out of commitments frequently, that’s a sign you’re saying yes too quickly.
  • “If you are not fulfilling promises, then that’s a clear sign you’re saying yes too quickly and saying yes too often to things that you don’t want to do.” (Omar Zenhom, 15:55)
• The power of deliberate, intentional commitment:
  • “Say yes slowly and no often. You should be saying no more than yes for sure. And when you say yes, mean it with your whole chest, right? And be proud.” (Omar Zenhom, 15:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Every yes is a no to something else." (Omar Zenhom, 03:15)
• "My need to accomplish my goals is greater than my need to just fulfill my wants." (Omar Zenhom, 06:30)
• "If I commit, I'm locked in. And that's why I don't commit lightly." (Omar Zenhom, 10:15)
• "The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything." (Warren Buffett, quoted at 12:08)
• "Say yes slowly and no often… When you say yes, mean it with your whole chest." (Omar Zenhom, 15:55)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:28 – Time is your most valuable asset
• 02:38 – The hidden cost of saying yes
• 04:05 – Omar’s script for buying time before saying yes
• 05:00 – Nepal conference story—choosing priorities over opportunities
• 10:14 – Why honoring your yes is crucial for trust and reputation
• 12:08 – Warren Buffett’s philosophy on saying no
• 13:00 – Practical exercise for listeners: pause before agreeing
• 13:44 – Identifying your “hell yes” commitments
• 15:55 – Red flag: backing out of commitments means saying yes too quickly

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Takeaway for Listeners

Omar’s actionable wisdom: Treat your time like the precious, non-renewable resource it is. Say yes slowly, no often, and with intention. Protect your time and reputation by never saying yes to anything immediately.

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If you found Omar’s approach practical and empowering, consider subscribing to The $100 MBA Show for more “no-fluff” business lessons three times a week.

Transcript

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[Pat Flynn]

Ahead There is one word I never say without serious thought. And that word is yes. Why? Because every single time I say yes to something, I say no to everything else that matters, whether it's a dinner invite, a coffee meetup, a podcast interview, or a spontaneous trip. If I say yes on impulse, I'm.

[Omar Zenhom]

Giving away something I can never get back.

[Pat Flynn]

My time. And here's what most people don't realize. Time is your most valuable asset. Not money, not attention, not even energy. Because you can make more money and.

[Omar Zenhom]

You can rest and regain energy.

[Pat Flynn]

But once your time is gone, that's it. It's gone forever. We can't take that time back. So in today's lesson, I'm going to share with you exactly why I never say yes to anything immediately and how that principle has helped me protect my business, my relationships in life, as well as my sanity. And how you can use it as well to level your decision making. Instantly. You're going to feel empowered. You're going to feel like you're valuing yourself and your time. But most importantly, you're going to make better decisions. Let's get into it.

[Omar Zenhom]

Welcome Back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenholm, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to help you start, grow and scale your business.

[Pat Flynn]

Real quick.

[Omar Zenhom]

If these episodes help you in any way, hit subscribe. It helps us keep bringing you practical business insights three times a week for free.

[Pat Flynn]

Thanks. Let's start with the dangerous cost of saying yes. Stay with me for a moment. Here's a little thought experiment I want you to do. Imagine someone walks up to you and asks you for a thousand dollars. You wouldn't just say, sure, right? You wouldn't just like, open up your bank app and transfer them $1,000. You'd ask them questions, right? You say, why do you need it? Maybe. What's the return on investment? Can I even afford that? Right now, but for some reason, when.

[Omar Zenhom]

Someone asks for a chunk of your.

[Pat Flynn]

Time, we don't think twice. We say yes out of politeness, out of guilt, out of impulse, out of.

[Omar Zenhom]

Whatever, just like that.

[Pat Flynn]

We give away time like it's nothing. When most of us are broken on time, we're not sitting around twiddling our thumbs with billions in the bank with nothing to do. I find it absolutely insane how casual we all are when it comes to giving away our most precious thing we own, which is yes, our time. Every yes is a no to something else. Because you can only do a single thing at any single time. That might mean a lot of things. So if you say yes to somebody about something, about, let's say, a lunch or whatever it might be, you're saying no to everything else you could possibly do during that time. You're saying no to focus work on your business, you're saying no to the gym, you're saying no to time with your family. You're saying no to even sleep. It's invisible, right? This cost of saying yes. But the cost is actually massive. It's so subtle, and that's why it's so dangerous. You have to be very careful about what you say yes to, because, again, your time is limited. So what do I do instead? I have a script I use every time. Yes, a script. It saves my butt every single time. And you can use this script. Steal it, Use it. My pleasure. And here's a script. Thanks for the invite. That does sound like fun. Let me check my calendar and my other commitments and I'll get back to you soon. That line buys me space, it buys me a bit of time, and it doesn't offend. And more importantly, gives me time to think, right? To think. If I want to commit to this thing that I'm being invited to. Sometimes after a few hours or after a day, I realize that invite didn't actually excite me. Or that meeting could be replaced with an email instead. Or that commitment doesn't really move me towards my goals, right? And here's the thing. Most of the things you're going to get invited to are going to be things that you probably want to do. See, that's the thing. And the question here is not, do you want to do it? Is it the best thing to do with your time? I mean, it's easy to say yes to things you like to do. It's hard to say no when you know you should be doing something else. Let me give you a story here, a real example here to show you what I'm talking about. This year I was invited to speak at a conference in Nepal. It was flattering and a huge opportunity. I mean, it was really exciting too because you would get to go on these great hikes as a part of this conference. And I've never been to Nepal before. It seems like a great opportunity. There were a lot of big names that were gonna go and speak there that I'd get to meet. There were some old friends I could get to catch up with. But I didn't immediately say yes because I used my script like I try to do every single time. I bought myself some time. And when I looked at the commitments I had on my plate for this year, the idea of international travel to Nepal, a week away, at least a week away, the prep time for my speech, getting ready for the trip, all that kind of stuff. And realiz that I will be at a commission for that week focusing on this conference. This opportunity was going to derail me from a major project that I was launching and gearing up for. So it was very clear to me that this was a no. Even though this is something that I. I'm excited for and it seems like fun, but my need to accomplish my goals is greater than my need to just fulfill my wants. I didn't say no to the conference, but more like I said yes to my business and what I was already working on. These are the tough decisions you need to make in business because if you say yes to everything, you're not focused. You're not really focused on a goal.

[Omar Zenhom]

Or a particular set of goals.

[Pat Flynn]

And if every time you get an opportunity or a chance to do something else than your goals, those goals will get forgotten about and never get accomplished. And listen, I was honored to be invited to that conference and I'm sure it would have been fun. But it was the choice I had to make so that I can be true to my own goals, my own ambitions, my own priorities. Let's face it, running your own business.

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Pat Flynn]

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[Omar Zenhom]

As someone who leads a team, it's helped me line up and connect better. And of course, Richard Branson. His class on disruptive entrepreneurship was like having a mojito with a billionaire on Nectar island while he explains how he hires delegates and lets ideas fly with his team, not just in his own head. Inspiring and super practical. With Masterclass you get unlimited access to over 200 classes from the best in the world. Business leaders, athletes, chefs, you name it. And it starts at just $10 a month. Built annually. Right now our listeners get an additional 15% off any annual [e-mail] MBA100 that's 15% [e-mail] MBA100 masterclass.com MBA100.

[Pat Flynn]

Here'S the thing about saying yes. In my world, if I say yes, I follow through every time. Whether it's a team member, a friend, or myself. My yes means something. Okay? Sometimes I say yes to something and I regret that I said yes. That I should have not said yes to this opportunity. I should have said thanks, but no thanks. But I follow through and I do it anyway because my word means something. So if I commit, I'm locked in. And that's why I don't commit lightly. Because a cheap yes leads to broken trusts, especially with yourself, which is one of the worst trusts to break, where you tell yourself you're going to do something and you don't do it. And you just train yourself that you don't mean nothing, right? Your, your words mean nothing, your commands mean nothing, and it tells yourself that you don't follow through. And therefore you start believing that if you ever feel over committed and then backed out in the last minute, you know the feeling of guilt and stress and resentment, maybe you don't feel any of this stuff. Maybe you're like, oh, whatever. But personally, when I say yes to something, it means something. And I rather just say no up front before they expect me to do something than for me to reluctantly do something just because I committed to it. This habit doesn't just protect my time. It helps me build a reputation as someone who's reliable, someone who doesn't flake, someone people can trust. People know in my circle of friends and my colleagues in business that if I say yes to something, I will do it. It's locked into the calendar and I expect it to happen too. So if it doesn't happen, I will be disappointed because I'm just giving you my time. And then if you don't value that time for some reason, you decide to back out for some reason. It tells me a lot about you and how you value my time. But when people could trust your word because you are somebody of your word, that's powerful. When you stop, just by reflex saying yes to things, you start respecting your time more. You become intentional about what you do and what you do with your time. You actually start hitting your goals because you go back to your goals, because you got the bandwidth to do so now, because you're not saying yes to everything. And people, they start respecting you even more. You know who does this masterfully, actually? Warren Buffett. He once said the difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything. Think about that. When you say no to almost everything, that means whatever you say yes to. You are all in focus and you are committed to it because you have sacrificed all the no's you've given said no to everything else because this really matters. Here's a quick exercise you could try this week. Something simple that you could try to implement what you're learning today. Every time someone asks you for your time. Now, we're not talking about five minutes of your time, but if they're asking for 30 minutes of your time, an hour of your time, pause and use this line. Let me check and get back to you, then actually check. Does it align with your goals? Are you saying yes out of guilt or out of pleasure? Will this cost you more than it gives you? And if it's not a hell yes, it's a no. Or at least not now. By the way, there's a great book on that topic called Hell yeah or.

[Omar Zenhom]

No by Derek Sivers.

[Pat Flynn]

It's a great read. Practice this muscle. You'll be shocked at how much focus and freedom you gain. Now, what really helps when you're doing this exercise is, is maybe taking a few minutes beforehand before you start doing this this week and brainstorm.

[Omar Zenhom]

What are the three, four, five things.

[Pat Flynn]

In your life that are a hell yeah? Things that you absolutely love, that you enjoy, that are a part of your life, part of your business, part of what you do. Okay, so for me, anything that helps me get better as a podcaster or grow the show, that's a hell yeah for me. On a personal side, I love basketball. I love snowboarding. I love poker. These are my three favorite hobbies I like to do. So if there's an opportunity to do one of these things, it's probably a hell yeah for me. Most of us, we have families, partners in life, you know, people that are important to us. So anything that helps my family, that helps me support them in any way, it's a hell yeah. So I prioritize that, because if I don't, then I might not be able to do the things I actually want to do because I've already committed to things that are not a priority. So you see how it goes. So if I yes to something else, that's just not one of those things on my list. And then there's a chance for me to support a family member of mine and show them that I care. And I can't do it because I already committed to something else. That's not important. You're in a tough situation here. See, that's why you need a little bit of wiggle room. You need a little bit of breathing room so that when the opportunity arises where you can do the things that are important to you, you can say yes easily. Look, I'm not antisocial. I'm not trying to live like a monk here. But I've learned the hard way that protecting your time is essentially Protecting your life. If you want to build something meaningful, a business, a body of work, a legacy, you've got to treat your time like gold. And this takes practice. It's not going to immediately feel this way from day to night. The more you do it, the more you start to realize how valuable your time is. So say yes slowly and no. Often you should be saying no more than yes for sure. And when you say yes, mean it with your whole chest, right? And be proud. Yes. These are one of the things I have to say yes to, because I love these things. This is important to me. This is something I value. So when you say yes, you fully commit. Here's a little tip. If you're backing out of things, if you're canceling on people, if you are not fulfilling promises, then that's a clear sign you're saying yes too quickly and saying yes too often to things that you don't want to do. So, I mean, why are you canceling? Because either you don't want to do it, or something else that you rather do came up. Okay, so slow down. No reason to say yes immediately. Slow down a little bit and understand that whenever you say yes, you're saying no to everything else. Thanks for tuning in to the 100 Ombie Show. If you love the show, keep tuning in and we'll keep on delivering practical business lessons.

[Omar Zenhom]

If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow and scale your.

[Pat Flynn]

Business, the best thing you could do.

[Omar Zenhom]

Is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe, or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now. Whether it's Apple or Spotify or ever, you listen to podcasts by hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically, and it's the best way to support the show.

[Pat Flynn]

It's absolutely free and it's a way.

[Omar Zenhom]

For you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.

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