I knew I should say no. My brain cued all the right signals for my mouth to say no. But somewhere between the pressure of her expectations and my own need to please, I blurted out, “Yes, of course!”
And then I felt stuck.
I have a feeling I’m not the only one who has played out this scenario over and over again. How can we stop saying “yes” when we positively know we should say “no?”
You don’t want to live your life at the mercy of everyone else’s requests, feeling completely burned out and overwhelmed. Whether it’s at work or at home, there are consequences to taking on more than you can handle. At the same time, you don’t want to feel guilty when you do set healthy boundaries and say no.
Please understand I’m not advocating that you should always say no. But I am advocating that you should sometimes say no. No, you’re too busy, no you’re not interested, or no, you don’t want to work until all hours of the night. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
For most of us, saying no doesn’t come naturally. You feel lousy disappointing a colleague, guilty about turning down your boss, and anxious denying a friend’s request. You want to be viewed as a ‘go-to person’ — a team player. The problem is, agreeing to work on too many assignments and pitching in on too many projects leaves you stretched and stressed. Being able to say no is vital to both your success and the success of your organization — but that doesn’t make it any easier to do.
Sometimes you have too much on your plate or you’re just not interested in taking on a project you’ve been asked to work on. How can you turn down the opportunity in a way that won’t offend the person asking?
Because so many people have silently struggled with this for years, I wanted to provide this FREE resource: 20 Ways to Say No to More Work. In the free pdf download, I share strategies for saying “no” in a way that’s respectful, productive, and free of guilt.
How to Get Your Copy
You can get a free copy of the 20 Ways to Say No to More Work by clicking the button below.
After You’ve Read It…
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- Print it and give a copy to a friend (just don’t charge for it or change it).
