Never Say Whatever: How Small Decisions Make a Big Difference

INTRODUCTION

THE ANTI-WHATEVER EVANGELIST IS BORN

Your destiny lies in your hands and can be moldedwith each passing day by the choices you make.

—SUNDAY ADELAJA

“Saying ‘whatever’ is like saying the F-word. It can mean almost anything you want,” a confident teenager told me as she enlightened me about the “whatever” word. She went on, “‘Whatever’ can be a whole sentence. It can be a curse, an attitude, an OK, an insult, or a nothing-word all at the same time. It especially comes in handy when I want to say I don’t care.”

With that simple description of a word so often used, my approach to both management and an examined life began to change. My teen friend was right: “whatever” is a word that can come in handy, although it can be habit forming, ...