“David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor and tried to walk, but he couldn’t, because he wasn’t used to wearing them. “I can’t fight with all this,” he said to Saul. “I’m not used to it.” So he took it all off. He took his shepherd’s stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.” 1 Samuel 17:39-40 GNT
Being a people pleaser is exhausting. You basically say YES to every request that comes your way, even when you know deep within you that your decision makes no sense.
This doesn’t mean saying YES is a bad thing. After all, it’s what helped me grow from being a content writer to a full-stack digital marketer. Every new client request got a YES from me and pushed me to research, learn, implement, fail and succeed.
But when it comes to leveraging your strengths, some activities just aren’t right.
How do you know when to say NO?
1. Be Sure of Your Goal
In the text, David had one mission: To defeat Goliath. It’s all he wanted to do. However, he must have been unsure about how that would happen. All he knew was that God would help him.
Saul was also aware of David’s goal and decided to suggest his own strategy to him because he believed his own strengths should also work for David.
But like David, it’s important to ask yourself, “will this help me achieve my goal?”
Perhaps it would, but you can’t answer that until you consider the next point.
2. Identify Methods That Helped You Succeed In The Past
There’s nothing wrong with trying new strategies, but when you already have a personal framework for winning, never forget it.
How can you identify your winning method? Look at your portfolio for even the smallest successes and identify the common threads.
As a shepherd boy who had to protect his sheep, David knew how to use the Sling pretty well. But he had never used armour before.
With the stakes set high, he needed to say NO to Saul’s suggestion and go for his own winning method. Now his method was crude and had probably never been used in such battles before, but for some reason, Saul as the leader chose to trust David (even though in his mind, he wished him farewell).
The method you’re used to may look crude and ineffective for the project at hand, but if you’ve identified it as your winning method, you only need to do one more thing.
3. Ask God For Help
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;” I Corinthians 1:27 NKJV
Your strengths might get mocked or laughed at, but that doesn’t stop it from being your superpower.
I can imagine David shutting his ears to the mockery from the Israelite army as he walked to the front with a sling and stones.
It requires an extra level of confidence in yourself and in God to do work your way.
I failed at this several times, adopting methods outside my strengths because I was told to. Like David, I staggered in all that armour. Frustration made me take it all off, but only after I had made mistakes.
Your strategy might be basic, but when God is involved in the implementation, you’d be surprised at what you’re capable of.
Once you know your goal, have identified your winning method that’s aligned with your strengths, and have made up your mind to let God work through you, compare it with the request made and be sure of your answer.
Sometimes, it’s a “YES, I’ll do it your way because I can still leverage my strengths” and sometimes it’s, “NO, I’m not used to your strategy, but I have something that’s worked for me.”
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