JC: Most people think that discipline is doing, right? but real discipline is not your to-do list, it’s in having a stop-doing list and to knowing what to not do. That is discipline. Most of us lead busy, but undisciplined lives.
You have always been an artful user of the stop-doing list and the not-to-do list. The question I have is when there are opportunities where people are asking you or your organization to do good things, but they are not right, how do you say “no” with grace?
FH: Because you aren’t doing it. You are looking at the mission and you have only one question, “If we do this, will it further the mission?”
If the answer is no or maybe, you find a loveliest way to say, “Thank you very much, but at this time we have to focus on XYZ, but we are grateful that you brought it to us.”