Hello again, friend!
I’ll keep this short, which is itself a small act of NO. For NO-vember…
Ssssso what is NO-vember, you ask?
Well…every November since roughly 2018, I’ve run a little 30-day challenge for myself: say NO to one thing, every day, for the whole month. That’s it.
That’s the whole thing.
Last year I sent everyone the NO-vember email on the 5th of November, five days late. For a challenge about protecting your time. (I’d lost track of the year because I’d said yes to too many things.) This year I’m early.
Look at me. Growth!
It doesn’t have to be a big thing. It can be as small as the third round of margaritas. (It is very often the third round of margaritas. Sometimes the fifth.) But the NO is a muscle, and by the 30th day, you’ll be turning down “quick calls” with the serene indifference of a cat being asked to get back inside.
If you sign up, you’ll get one email a day. Stuff like The power of the pause. The Sent Folder Audit. Hell Yeah or NO, and the single most useful sentence in the English language: “Let me check my calendar and get back to you.” Fwooooar. Aaaand my personal favourite, the “Sh_t I Didn’t Say NO To” List, which is exactly as fun to write as it sounds.
Why November?
Because I do all my planning for next year in the last quarter of this one. While everyone else is drunkenly scribbling resolutions on a cocktail napkin at 11:58pm on New Year’s Eve, I like to already be halfway through the first steps. And the only way to clear the decks for 2027 is to stop saying yes to everything in 2026.
Hence: NO.
Day 1’s homework hasn’t changed. Make a list of everything you’ve shelved because you “don’t have time.” Notes app, yellow legal pad, Sharpie on your forehead. Whatever floats your boat. Then stare at it for one long, uncomfortable minute.
My list is embarassingly long.
Every year I write these thirty little emails to you, and every year it’s me who needs them most. You’re not taking some kind of course; You’re watching a 42-year-old man take a refresher, and you’re very welcome to sit in.
Sign up for NO-vember here.
Or don’t.
Either way, you’re practising.
‘til next time!
Your pal,
PS. Last year I wrote that if you replied to this email with a “no,” I’d know you didn’t need it. One of you replied with a single word: “no.” No greeting. No sign-off. I have never been prouder of a stranger. The offer stands.
PPS. Look, if this actually did something for your brain (or at least distracted you from the creeping dread of your own inbox for six minutes), please consider restacking this and sharing it with your people. It’s the only way the word spreads.
I’m using this as a start: no thank you for your lovely offer. I have too many emails to delete already!