Some of the best advice I’ve heard recently is to take a stronger stance on saying no. If you’re not aware of this school of thought, it can be summarized as: it’s hard to say no to people, thus we end up doing too much. Instead, we should strive to minimize our commitments and invest time where we can make the biggest impact. On that note, here’s all the things I’m saying yes to right now:

  • My wife
  • My kids
  • My company
  • My health (eating right, exercising, cycling, etc)
  • ActiveTrans (I’m a board member)
  • Mentoring startups (ex: helping the first batch of Techstars Anywhere)

That feels right to me. I’m committed to my family, building Bright, and giving back to the community.

I wrote this down to periodically remind myself to filter. If it’s not on the list, it’s a no.

This is a good exercise for you to run through too.

This post initially appeared on Medium