A friend once told me something that stayed with me:
“Sometimes the ‘yes’ you want comes too early—and that can be just as dangerous as a no.”
At first, I didn’t understand it. But she explained with a story from her early business days.
She landed a big client—huge, actually. The kind of client people brag about on LinkedIn. She was excited, flattered, and convinced it was her breakthrough moment. But halfway through the project, she realized she didn’t yet have the systems, support, or stamina to handle what that “yes” demanded from her.
Instead of feeling successful, she felt overwhelmed.
Instead of feeling proud, she felt stretched thin.
Instead of scaling, she stumbled.
Later, she said something that echoed deeply:
“That yes taught me more than any no ever did.”
It made her rethink her processes.
It made her tighten her boundaries.
It made her clarify what she was truly ready for.
And that’s where storytelling comes in.
Every “yes” carries a story you’re responsible for delivering. A promise. A narrative you need the capacity to uphold. If the timing is wrong, even a good opportunity can become a heavy one.
But when the timing is right—when your message, your energy, your systems, and your audience align—that same “yes” doesn’t just lift you.
It launches you.
The takeaway: The story you’re ready to tell determines the opportunities you’re ready to hold. Not every yes is good, and not every no is bad. Sometimes timing is the real storyteller.
