"No" + Extra Time=Happy?Posting a few days early this week. After thinking about my decision to post weekly to this blog, I've since come to the conclusion that that decision may be limiting. What if I have something to say and don't want to wait until Tuesday to post it? What if all I want to do is post a quick observation, thought, or inquiry regarding something that caught my attention on a given day?So I'm wondering...how do we measure happiness? Can it be measured by the number of times we say "no" to things? If I say "no" to 5 things am I 5 times more likely to be happy?Last week I asked people to pause the next time they were asked to do something by someone...or something called for their attention. Specifically I asked people to think about...what they are giving up by saying "yes" to others or things. If saying "no" to most people or things opens up time...that time, in theory could be used to pursue things you are interested in doing...things that could make you happy. Of course...in reality...this does not happen absolutely. If I say "no" to 5 requests and as a result this opens up 3 hours of free time in my life...these 3 hours are not necessarily going to be filled consecutively let alone with fun, happy stuff...that's wishful thinking. Stuff happens...other things need to get done.Or...maybe not. What if you are diligent...organized...you might figure out a way to maximize that 3 hours...filling it with things that are of interest to you...things that...as you do them...make you happy seemed, at least to me, in part...addressing this topic. Godin talked at length about what he says yes/no to. He uses a few questions to "vet" his decisions...questions I'd not thought about consciously until hearing both he and Tim discuss the matter...What impact will "this" (decision to say yes) have?Will it (the decision to say yes) help me forward something; an idea, value or ideology I'm interested in? Answers to these questions (along with other factors) not only help Godin to say yes or no to requests for his time...they help him have a better sense of himself and what he stands for.This got me thinking whether or not what or who we say yes to comports with what we want to achieve? Which then led me to reflect on...you guessed it...what is it that I want to achieve with my time?The cool thing about all of this thinking is that it is a part of a process...the journey if you will. The mere fact that we spend any time at all thinking about these things is time well spent.