It was a busy day as usual when I got a call from one of my dear and respected friends. It was regarding a profitable offer that I felt tempted to pursue. Though I knew my plate was full, I could not refuse. I felt the FOMO deep within me. I did not want to commit immediately, so I gently asked for more time to think. The more I thought about the shiny object, the more it pulled me towards it. I was confused.  So I decided to go for a long walk and not think about it. I let the thought slip my mind and decided to come back to it later.

After a couple of days, I looked at it with a fresh mind and a helicopter lens. I told myself I would take on the project if it passed the screening test. So I scanned it through these 3 questions

1. Does the opportunity serve my big goal?

2. Do I have enough resources to pursue this project?

3. Will this have an impact on my current projects?

The answer was NO, so I picked up the phone and politely refused the offer. Though I was relieved, I felt I upset somebody who trusted and considered me worthy of the offer.  That is when I stumbled upon Peter Drucker’s response to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s invitation to participate in his research on Creativity –

“I am greatly honoured and flattered by your kind letter of February 14th—for I have admired you and your work for many years, and I have learned much from it.

But, my dear Professor Csikszentmihalyi, I am afraid I have to disappoint you. I could not possibly answer your questions…

I hope you will not think me presumptuous or rude if I say that one of the secrets of productivity (in which I believe whereas I do not believe in creativity) is to have a VERY BIG waste paper basket to take care of ALL invitations such as yours—productivity in my experience consists of NOT doing anything that helps the work of other people but to spend all one’s time on the work the Good Lord has fitted one to do and to do well.”

What a timely advice that was from the management guru!

“Spend all one’s time on the work the Good Lord has fitted one to do and to do well….”

This cleared off all heaviness from my heart. I not only felt proud of myself for staying in integrity with my calling but also earned the respect of my trusted friend when I explained that taking on the offer would be a disservice to both – the new project and my current one. He said very few have the courage and honesty to decline profitable offers. Yay!

The invitation landed in a VERY BIG WASTE PAPER BASKET in PETER DRUCKER STYLE. Three cheers to the ‘NO’!