Why you keep saying yes to work you don't want

There's work on your calendar right now that you didn't want. You knew it when you took it. The usual explanation is that the money was fine and the timing worked out. That isn't the reason. Count the clients you have and ask what happens if one of them leaves next month. For most consultants the answer is a hole they can't fill quickly. Say no to the work in front of you and you're volunteering for that hole early. So you say yes. That exposure isn't bad luck or a bad market. It comes from a target most consultants set deliberately, which is enough clients to fill the calendar. Supply matching demand. From inside that target, excess demand looks wasteful, and so does turning a prospect away or admitting you're at capacity. What it leaves you with is a practice where every client is necessary. And a consultant who needs the business takes what shows up, keeps the engagement that should have ended two years ago, and never raises a fee. This episode makes the case for aiming past that, at more demand than you can serve. For consultants who are busy enough and starting to notice how little of the work they actually chose.