Reminder, You Can Always Say “No”

Published on: April 13, 2021

Why we guilt ourselves into saying ‘yes’:

1) Coming up with excuses feels bad because we believe that’s what they are.. excuses. In reality, there’s always a real reason that can be hard to admit or hard for the inquirer to accept

2) You have multiple asks so if you don’t do one, you feel the need to at least do the other

3) We don’t want to let the person down or we convince ourselves that they can’t do it without us

4) You are technically “free” (no work or obligations)

Why we need to retrain our brain to not feel guilty:

1) Excuses always sound negative but really they’re simply a way to justify what you’re doing when you know the person won’t accept your answer. Remember: “No.” is a full sentence.

2) When you’re on the brink of burnout and more requests come up it can feel mean to deny them all. Truthfully, you’re giving yourself space to rest, refresh, and think, to be better for those circumstances at a later date.

3) People invite you to events because of the quality time they get to spend with you or because they need your help. Most of the time, this doesn’t need your immediate…