Getting to where you want to go in life isn't easy, if it was then everything would be fairly straightforward. 

However, it is anything but a straight path to getting to the destination you aspire to. The road is most likely winding and has more diversions than you'd like or expect. In fact, although you may know in what direction you want to head towards, most people have no idea how to get there.

One of the best things you can do on this journey is to say yes to other things, other people, other opportunities. Because we don't know the way, opening yourself up to serendipity can often propel you forwards even if you can't make sense of it at the time.

When we look back at people's paths it's often easy to connect the dots in retrospect, yet, in reality if that person was honest with themselves they'd reflect on choices and decisions that didn't make much sense at the time but that contributed heavily towards getting them to where they wanted to go.

Because we don't know the exact way, saying yes can help us explore a plethora of paths, resulting in a higher chance of success.

But what happens when you get to where you wanted to go? 

Then it makes sense to say no more than yes. 

Other things, other people, other opportunities can detract from the focus that is required to stay where you want to be. 

Saying yes to other things helps get you to where you want to go, saying no helps keep you there.