In time, the detective work that will lead to a decision about saying yes or no will become much easier. And obviously, there’s no standard formula to use to reach that decision. We can’t tell you that if you respond a certain way to five out of those six questions, for example, you should shout “Forget it!” at the top of your lungs. But we do know that with practice, and by constantly using those questions as an evaluating tool for each potential no situation, making a certain kind of decision will start to feel natural. Eventually, it will be fluid and even unconscious, in the sense that you’ll be able to perceive all the important elements, all the positives and negatives on the field, in the blink of an eye. Your nos (and, accordingly, your yesses) will be confident, unhesitating, and forward-moving.
But this does take practice. Fortunately, there’s a relatively easy way to train for the no, and it doesn’t require you to rapid- fire that two-letter word at your boss until it feels natural.