Saying No is a Yes for Your Life

A two-letter word is sometimes the hardest word to say. The ability to say no is a learned skill that must be utilized in order to give individual power back to your life. Possessing “no” in your vocabulary does not make you a bad person. You do not have the time to cater to every event, activity, favor, assignment, or extra commitment people may ask of you. The ability to say no helps you prioritize what is important and gives you an individual vote that you are putting your time first.

The idea of saying no is not to say no to everything. It is not to become selfish and only do things for yourself while turning down every opportunity to help others. It is actually the opposite. Saying no to things actually frees up more time for both individual pursuits and your ability to be of service to others. Instead of trying to please everyone, you are able to give your effort in a more concentrated way as opposed to giving fractions of your time and ability to multiple pieces. Good still emerges from the ability to say no.

You do not need to go out to every dinner nor do you need to go out to a bar every weekend. You do not need to make time for every meeting nor do you need to set aside 45 minutes for that phone call. Focusing is about saying no, not about saying yes. You can say no and set boundaries for your lives. These boundaries are how priorities are protected. Without them, you run the risk of overcommitting and being lost in a maze of favors, tasks, and events taking you away from what you want or need to do.

Saying no is difficult.

In your social life, you can feel left out or be called lame for choosing not to go out and party. In your career, when you deal with superiors or those older than you, it is very hard to turn down additional tasks or responsibilities. You want to go above and beyond to prove yourself and show you are capable.

By learning to say no, a chemical reaction occurs where you grow to realize that just because you can do does not mean you need to or have to. You should not feel indebted to those around you at the expense of your priorities. With boundaries established, there is often more respect given to someone who is honest about their time and can say no, as opposed to simply saying yes and adding to the pile of tasks. Saying no in this way is not the lazy thing to do, it is the respectable thing to do for yourself.

By saying no, you are really saying yes to the rest of your life.