The Power of No.

General Charles de Gaulle famously said NO twice in 1963 and 1967 to Britain joining the European Common Market. His prophetic veto came to pass. Charles had the power to say No and his utterance held. In Matthew 5 verse 37 Jesus tells us to ‘ let your yes be yes and your no be no ‘ so as to avoid any misunderstanding. No can be final and is a boundary that individuals can set to protect their privacy and choice.

For some incapable of saying No they face intrusion, bullying and invasive acts upon their being. No is not a negative but becomes an imperative and in fact one of the most powerful tools in life’s tool box. Generally people vote for their leaders through elections saying No to some. In some nations there aren’t any elections or staged at best then their No can only take place via protestations at self risk. In that sense we must value our ability to say No.

For those addicted to whatever No is a very difficult place to reach and many have withered. With help those addicts can find that No so vital to their life continuing. When conquered we again see the Power of No as freedom is found. In business saying No to a proposition can be more difficult than going along with the Yes and though hindsight is everyone’s wisdom that No can be a Saviour being often twice as long to unwind a bad decision .Recently an Accountant told me if you say no to everything you would never do anything. The Japanese say Yes by nod to everything and don’t know No but proceed then to adapt yes. No is perhaps a braver response. A business wag said to me if anyone wants a decision now the answer must be no.

In the film YES MAN , Jim Carey is required to say yes to everything leading him to all sorts of adventures. In the movie DR NO ( featured on previous blog ) he wants world domination , though never known to say No to that ambition. There are of course alternatives to No for example when Joseph found no room at the inn he reverted to the stable. Aka the Japanese we can therefore adapt our No and in the land of compromise many live. As another week starts try saying No and see what happens .You may well find that’s where the power is and in there that liberation from obligation and rote.

Try it.