None of these are true.
Saying ‘no’ to people can actually be good for your role, your mental health, and your career.
When you say no, it tells people you value your time and that you know how to prioritise.
I am a firm believer that we train people how to treat us. If you always say yes, it doesn’t make you indispensable, it makes you a doormat.
I have three tips for saying no.
The first is to separate the decision from the relationship. Saying yes or no should be about whether it’s the right thing for you to be doing and not about the person who is asking you to do it.
Secondly, my whole mindset changed when I started thinking in terms of ‘I choose to’ instead of ‘I have to.’ It gave me back control and made me question whether I wanted to ‘choose to’.
And finally, the shorter it is, the stronger it is. Saying no should be like ripping off a sticking plaster. Do it fast and its far less painful.
One of my delegates recently reframed totally how I thought about saying no. She said ‘‘Saying no is showing respect to the other person because it’s not overcommitting yourself to something you can’t deliver’.
We need to reframe saying no as a strength, not a weakness.
