Justine Musk is Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s first wife and the mother of six of his 11 children. They were in a relationship even before he became a billionaire after the sale of Zip2 in 1999.
Having known Elon Musk before and after he achieved billionaire status has allowed Justine Musk to identify the keys to her former husband’s success. In her 2014 TEDx talk, she emphasized his ambition and focus, as well as a skill not everyone possesses: the ability to say no.
Saying No Means Saying Yes
According to Justine Musk, a significant part of her ex-husband’s success stemmed from his ability to say no to distractions, allowing him to say yes to opportunities that led to success. “He said no to people who wanted his time, attention, and energy. He said no in a way that protected his resources so he could channel them toward his own goals. And I realized that behind every no is a deeper yes to whatever is that you do want,” she explained. “The deep yes is the right to dream your dream,” Justine Musk added.
Additionally, she pointed out that the ability to say no is a skill often developed at a young age, and her children have already begun to cultivate it. In her TED Talk, she shared that her children exercise their power by refusing certain requests, asserting their individuality, and taking charge of their own schedules.
However, Justine Musk acknowledged that she lost the ability to say no to others during her childhood, from ages eight to 13. She noted that saying no not only requires the courage to face potential negative reactions from those who seek your time but also reflects a keen understanding of how to manage one’s own time and intentions effectively.
Warren Buffett’s Calendar Is Filled With “No’s”
Elon Musk isn’t the only one who values his time above all else. Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is similarly intentional about how he spends his time, often keeping large gaps in his schedule free.
In an hour-long conversation for The Charlie Rose Show, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Buffett discussed the importance of time management. Gates pointed out how meticulous Buffett is with his time. “And the fact that he is so careful about [his schedule]… [I learned that] you control your time. And that sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority than [being] a normal CEO, where there all these demands and you feel like you need to go and see all these people. It’s not a proxy of your seriousness that you fill every minute in your schedule,” Gates said.
Notably, author Greg McKeown emphasizes an interesting paradox about productivity in his book Essentialism: True productivity isn’t about doing more but rather about doing less. By saying no to others, you can prevent your to-do list from filling up with tasks that don’t align with your goals. In fact, you should eliminate those tasks at all costs.Although saying no might require some internal effort initially, in the long run, it provides you with more time to focus on what truly matters to you.
Image | Sparsh Paliwal
Related | Jeff Bezos Is a Master of Productivity Because of This Secret: Starting Off Slow in the Morning
View 0 comments