Let me ask you a question: Do you have any clients you never would have taken on in the first place if you knew then what you know now? When you see a person’s name on caller ID display, and you say, “Oh great, not this guy again!” is it just not worth the aggravation, regardless of the compensation?

As successful professionals in a service industry, many of us are predisposed to say yes. It can be a habit even; we say yes all the time. We say yes to clients and to prospects and to volunteer activities.

We say yes to friends and family and neighbors and charities and service groups and industry associations. The list goes on and on.

For many advisors, as we build our practices, we might be tempted to say yes to anybody and everybody whom we can get to even talk to us, even when it is not the best use of our time.

Perhaps a prospect asks, “Hey, can you drive an hour for an appointment?” You might be tempted to say, “What time do you want me there?” Or maybe they ask, “Hey, do you work evenings and weekends?” You might be tempted to say, “Of course. I am here to serve.”

But what I want to talk about is the freedom of the word “no.” Because you do not, in fact, need to say yes to every possible piece of business out there. You see, here is the thing: By doing suboptimal work, you are keeping yourself from reaching your true and full potential.

You want to be spending your time in the best possible way that you can. When that is not happening, just say no, and watch the freedom that flows from there.

Those clients who make you cringe when you see their name on call display? Think about this: How much better would it be if you had never taken them on in the first place?

You see, the best way to handle a situation like that is not to try to fix it but to prevent it from happening at all. Just say no!

If someone is not a good fit for your practice, when do you think is the best time to come to that conclusion? Is it after they have been draining your energy for years? Of course not. The best time to deal with this is before it even becomes an issue. Why would you wait until later to figure this out? Just simply do not engage clients who are not a good fit for you.

Because, ideally, we should be working only with clients who are a great fit. We simply cannot be all things to all people.

Saying no might appear counterintuitive. It’s not. Saying no is liberating. Saying no frees you from the tyranny of other people’s requests.

Saying no can be a challenge because sometimes it could mean turning away work that made you successful in the first place. But if your objective is to grow your practice, inevitably you are going to need to evolve.

Sometimes the work that got you to where you are now is keeping you where you are now. You may need to say no to what you used to do in order to move forward with what you need to do next.

So get control over your practice — and your life. Learn when to just say no!

Brad Brain, CFP, CLU, is a 10-year MDRT member with six Court of the Table qualifications who has been serving clients for more than 25 years with multi-disciplinary expertise. Brain is nationally recognized for his expertise in retirement income planning. He spoke on Main Platform at the 2018 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Brain helped author the Certified Financial Planners qualification exam, and has appeared as an expert witness on poverty reduction strategies for the Parliament of Canada.