Artful Living

monday motivation – say "no"

January 7, 2013

Do you remember last week how I mentioned in the New Year, I would be all about doing one simple thing a day.  That one simple thing for me has to do learning to say no.  When our children are little, a “no” in the midst of parenting or saying “no” just seems part of our job.  I am a doer and I am a helper but we all have our limits as to what we can do or can say yes to.

I was tested last week with several friends asking for various favors.  I said yes to two out of three of them so saying no to the third was really a challenge for me.  To be honest, I felt bad about saying no but in the end I also kept saying to myself that there was nothing wrong with just saying no.  
My “no” needed no explanation or back up plan.  I did have a valid conflict so I had to say no.

It seems many of us are bombarded with requests to donate time, money, support and I am not advocating that no be said to everything but I do believe that having a clear vision of what you do say yes to will be beneficial to you, your self esteem and to those around you.  I was surprised to find so many great tools, tips, and books on the art of saying no, which means that many of us must find it a challenge to say no.

Is it hard for you to say “no” or better yet “no, thank-you.”
Keep it simple, say “no” or practice saying no and you will be surprised how motivating it can be.
Posted in ,