We live in a society that is consistently craving change and innovation. A society where the new iPhone is released every six months and consumers buy out their two year phone plan so they can have the next best thing. Being a student, this fallacy is presented daily. As a student, you're expected to get involved, apply for internships and jobs, and basically seize every opportunity that is presented to you.
This type of mentality is not bad to equip; grabbing opportunities left and right can help you build a successful education and future career path. Although, students have become so obsessed with the idea of saying "yes" that they forget the power of the word "no."
Take, for example, a student that takes 18 credit hours a semester. They work an on-campus job, they're involved in countless clubs and are "on the grind"—this person is busy. According to the mentality of college, if this person is presented with an opportunity for, let's say, an internship, they should obviously take advantage of the situation and take the internship. Now, to keep a well-rounded resumé, this person would most likely continue taking a heavy course load, continue working, and continue their active participation in extracurricular activities. It doesn't seem like this person has time.
So, we run into a problem. The "obvious" answer for this person is yes. They should take the internship, grow their skills, and continue the stressful life that they're already living with another item on their plate. However, this mentality leads to a dangerous ideology that perpetuates an unhealthy and unhappy lifestyle. We have become a society that is so driven on measuring the monetary or advancement value of success. This type of society has led us to forget what our real purpose should be: to lead happy lives and be great people.
When you are constantly loading another job onto your plate or so worried about becoming successful that you sacrifice your own happiness by saying yes, you are no longer successful. Sure, you can have money and prestige, but when you lay your head down, can you sleep with yourself?
Being able to say no to opportunities that may present themselves gives you the sole control over your life. In this way, a schedule does not run your life, you do. When you say no, you give yourself the power to prioritize your basic human rights to happiness and kindness over a resumé builder. You stop sacrificing who you truly want to be as a person for what society has deemed as an appropriate life path for you.
Some of the most successful people in the world struggle with the power of saying no. For example, Lady Gaga has opened herself up to public discussion of mental health. She did an interview with Yale University almost four years ago that exemplifies the power of saying no.
Lady Gaga explained how learning to say no changed her lifewww.youtube.com
When you give yourself complete authority over what you want your own life to be like instead of defining success under what you're "supposed" to be doing, you are able to exemplify the best parts of yourself. You are able to become the best version of yourself and excel in ways that you never knew were possible.
