231: Saying NO for music studio growth

The dreaded two letter word “N-O” is one of those words that none of us like to hear and none of us like to say! We don't like to turn down opportunities. We don't like to turn down money. We don't like to turn down the changes to positively impact someone else's lives. But NO, is such a powerful word. No creates an opportunity for you to spend more time, energy and money on things that truly serve you. Have thoughts for me? Instagram or Zoom, your choice! Look at your roster, look at your goals, look at your time commitments! Look into everything that goes into your days, your weeks, your months and even your years and see how using that little two letter word can shift how things go. Emotions of Saying No Generally speaking the easy no, doesn't come with a lot of emotion. It is, no, this is not in alignment with my business or no, I don't offer that service or no, I am not available for that. Easy, emotionless and effective. The ones that bring up emotion are when somebody comes to you saying “I want you to teach me…” or “Can you teach my child…” You may realize or decide that You're not the right teacher for whatever reason. You might not be able to give them a best in class experience You can't make the schedule work with them Adding the student into your roster is going to create an imbalance Sometimes when we say no, it's because we have made a commitment to grow our own business and by bringing that student on, it stifles our own growth. This is pulling at the heart strings for sure… I would love to work with this student because they would be absolutely amazing, but I can't because otherwise I'm stifling the opportunities that I am trying to create for myself. When we say these emotional No’s, we beat ourselves up over it, right? We're like, oh, can I find a way to make it work? We're always trying to bend over backwards and find a way to say yes. I want you to stop that. You don't have to say yes to everything and everyone. A yes now means no to your own future. Saying yes to something that is not ideal right now will undoubtedly make it harder for you to accomplish your own goals. You are not only a fabulous music teacher, you are also a fabulous business owner who has hopes and dreams and goals. The little letters N. O. allow you to reach for them and work toward them consistently. When you say no to someone, they generally are going to respect that and respect you and not tie a whole lot of emotion to it. It's all your own emotions and that's why we have to be very pragmatic in this space. Emotions being told No Think about it when someone has said no to you, what do you tie to that no? Do you say “Oh my goodness! Well they're just like throwing away good money” or That was a really stupid thing for them to say! I'm amazing.” Come on! Usually we're like, “okay, moving on” and take it at that. Giving yourself permission by saying No Regardless of whether it's an easy no or a difficult no it’s important to understand where that no is coming from. Identifying what space that no is allowing us into will make it easier for us to continue to say no to the things that don't serve us. When we say no to a new student… we're saying yes to our one to many program we're saying yes to our family we're saying yes to more gigs we are saying yes to vacation we are saying yes to fill in the blank. When we say no to something that's local… we might be saying yes to something that's online or to something more well targeted or something that opens more doors elsewhere. When we say no to having a new in-studio student (because we teach online using Muzie!) we are saying yes to the boundaries and studio policies and procedures. When we say no to discounting our services, we are saying yes to knowing our value. When we say no to you, name it, we are saying yes to ourselves. Always. You are saying yes to yourself. You're saying yes to your goals. You are saying yes to the future that you are looking to create! Say the right yes is say the right no’s and you're well on your way to teaching music on your terms in a way that is very much in alignment with your personal and professional goals! It's time! Round 3 of the Online Music Course Accelerator is open for application. Click here for details.