I’ve always been someone who finds it hard to say no. I think lots of people have this problem and it stems from a number of issues. Sometimes it is about not wanting to appear rude. Sometimes it is about fear of missing out on an opportunity. Sometimes it is just so ingrained within us to say yes, that the idea of saying no doesn’t appear until you have already agreed to something that, on reflection, you would have preferred not to.
Saying no there would have saved me an awful lot of energy.
I’ve been working on my ability to say no a lot more over the last few months. Having so much on with so little spare time means that I have had to be more ruthless in what I commit to doing. I’ve also been reflecting on some previous experiences where I’ve said yes on the basis of that adage ‘you only regret opportunities you don’t take’. Well, I can say that, for me, that’s not true. I once took a job because I was asked to do it. I was really flattered to have been asked and even though it wasn’t particularly a job that I had been that interested in, I took it. Because I thought I would regret it if I didn’t. I learnt from that experience. The job took a lot out of me and, on reflection, didn’t give enough back. Saying no there would have saved me an awful lot of energy. Rather than regret that, I’ve tried to use the experience to give me more confidence in saying no.
Now I’m in the process of leaving one job, setting up both a business and a consultancy, relocating to Lincolnshire in June, training for my first Olympic distance triathlon (also in June) as well as all the standard being a mum thing! Recently I was asked to do a book review for a special Summer edition of Air Power Review, to write an article for Britethink (which aims to connect people to opportunities in entrepreneurship, career advice, education and much more) as well as take on a franchise. I think in the past I would have said yes to them all, even though I would be feeling quite frazzled about getting it all done. Instead, I’ve politely declined (for now) the franchise opportunity. The book review I finished yesterday and I’m putting the final touches on the article today before sitting back and enjoying a well-earned break!
For those that need a bit more help in learning to say no, I loved this short article from Career Girl Daily (a great blog that is really easy to read). In the meantime, I hope you are all relaxing over the remains of the Easter eggs and enjoying some time to yourself.
Happy venturing, peeps x