Being a yes person all your life can be troubling for you, especially in situations where you keenly wanted to say no. Devoting your whole self to serving others won’t give you luxuries in life. It can disturb your mental health. So, the point is saying yes is not a bad idea but saying it all the time and excessively is a bad practice. It is exhausting especially when you are in a hectic job and you are the only kind person on the whole staff. It is perfectly fine to say no and that’s something as important for employees as it is for any employer. Here is why learning to say no is an important life lesson that every employee should have in their pocket.
Prioritize Your Self-Worth
In an early academic career, no one really cares about self-worth. We see people insulting, disregarding, and bullying us, we never take it too seriously especially when it comes from our own people. We sometimes, confuse making fun with making fun of and that’s the time when things become distressing.
Likewise, when you surround yourself with distinguished peers, you start to reduce the gap in knowledge and feelings of imposter syndrome. This may work for a short time, but spreading your resources so openly and making yourself always available may hurt your competency and self-worth.
You deserve to be treated in the right way possible. Saying yes to everything does not grant success. It’s very important to say no to the projects you don’t feel comfortable doing. Always be mindful of the opportunities and their impact on your success and career. If you see the whole scenario is very much clear to you then commit yes to it. Prioritize your self-worth and willingness to do certain tasks, not the people you work with.
Why is Saying No Important?
Your attunement, help, kindness, and support for others are good things especially when you feel a sense of pride. But losing yourself in the whole journey is a very despicable deal.
Saying no is important because it helps you to become your true and genuine self. On the other side, being a yes person and being at the needs of others can only satisfy the ego of others. We all have our limits in energy, time, and resources. If you are always giving out to others and not taking anything back, then you are simply burning out yourself for something you won’t get any profit.
If you are being offered an extra task, don’t hesitate to discuss the workload with managers. Saying yes to every task won’t help you to complete it all on time. Be honest with your work.
Apart from this, saying no also allows you to spend your time and energy wisely. You know where these resources are worth spending.
Learning to say no can help you thrive in your workplace and life as well.
How to Practice No
If you have not practiced saying “no” all your life, then it might be challenging for you to learn it so quickly. But we can start everything from scratch and master it with time. Firstly, you need to feel comfortable with failure or feeling guilty at the end of the day. This is the total game when you know you will regret it, but you have to do it anyway. You need to keep in mind that not everything we do leads to success. Most importantly, don’t stress about these failures. With every failure comes an experience and opportunity to do better.
If you ever feel yourself feeling guilty due to the consequences of your denial behavior you can imagine locking your negative thoughts in a drawer or cupboard. This way you will be aware of your habit of overthinking the negative reaction. We always forget about the positive reactions that we may receive after saying no. There are many people who appreciate your clarity and honesty with work.
Here are some useful phrases for learning to say no gradually.
- That’s an excellent idea, but I am not ready to take it on.
- I am too busy to take anything else right now.
- I am not prepared to utilize this great opportunity.
- That’s so nice of you to consider me for this, but I don’t think this one is for me.
- I don’t work on Sundays.
- It doesn’t align with my schedule.
- I don’t respond to emails outside of my office time.
Final Words
Be in a job that is truly enjoyable for you. There are many people who devote themselves to a career that doesn’t align with their life goals. When saying no, you don’t really need to give an explanation. With some encouraging or appreciating words, you can simply decline the offer and it’s great learning to say no. This sometimes can be an emotionally charged task as you will feel like hurting someone’s feelings. However, if it costs you your mental health and peace it is too much to accept.
