“If I’d listened to customers, I’d have given them a faster horse.” (Henry Ford)

It’s easy to say yes. Saying yes feels good. Saying yes makes you well-liked. The problem is you quickly have a pile of things you’ve said yes to, and you can no longer see what it is you started out to do. Saying yes to anything eventually leads to saying no to everything.

We often avoid saying no because it might lead to confrontation — which makes us uncomfortable. Still, the consequences of saying yes when we want to say no are even worse. We drag things out. We make things complicated. We end up working on things we don’t believe in.

It’s like when you’re dating. Breaking up is hard to do, but staying together just because you’re too chicken to leave is even worse. Dealing with the brief discomfort of confrontation up front helps avoid long-term regret.