Do you feel overwhelmed with too many commitments? Struggling to achieve the things you want in life. And are always feeling like you are satisfying everyone else’s needs but your own?
If this sounds like you then don’t despair, there is a way out of this cycle to enable you to gain control over your life. The secret to reclaiming your life is by understanding when to say no and when to say yes.
Many people fall into the trap of saying yes to things they don’t want to do and saying no to things they should be doing. Sadly, this way of life leads to people not fulfilling their dreams and goals. You can change this way of living by distinguishing when to say no and when to say yes.
Take Control over Your Life by Saying No
Learning to say no can be very powerful as it can stop you from over committing and frees up your time to focus on your vision and goals. The best way to identify when to say no is when you have that gut feeling that you don’t want to do something. When this happens, don’t say yes and instead say no thank you.
Another way that helps me to know when to say no is by asking myself the question does this request support my goals and my values, and if it doesn’t then, I will respond with no.
Some of the things I have started to say no to are:
- Meetings, when an email or quick phone call would be easier.
- Events that I don’t enjoy.
- Volunteer work that I’m no longer interested in.
- Belonging to groups and associations I no longer enjoy.
While it can be hard to say no, doing so gives you more considerable time to focus on your goals. It can also help to improve your mental health and wellbeing by reducing burnout due to overcommitment, which doesn’t help anyone.
Achieve Amazing Things by Saying Yes
As mentioned saying, no is essential, but saying yes can be just as important.
Confused?
Stay with me.
Real growth comes from saying yes not to everything but, to the right things. Reply with a yes to the things that are going to move your life forward, take you out of your comfort zone and help you to accomplish your goals. Saying yes to these opportunities may be scary and may make you feel a little anxious. You may often say no to these opportunities out of fear, but deep down, you know you should be saying yes to these possibilities as they will help you thrive.
For example, about a year ago, I was asked to do a presentation at a yoga studio about decluttering and organising. My initial thought was no I’m too busy, what would I present on and what if I stuffed up? I then paused for a minute and asked myself the question does this opportunity help me grow as a person? And the answer is yes. It was my goal to do more presentations and improve my public speaking, so I said yes. And it was the best decision I made, I learnt a lot, received positive feedback and also gained client work from the presentations.
Saying yes is profound in enabling you to grow and live a life you value.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with too many commitments, you may need to start saying no more often. And start to say yes to things that will challenge you and help you to achieve your goals. If you are feeling overwhelmed with all your tasks, get in touch to organise a chat on how we can work together to organise your time.
Joey Camilleri
Professional Organiser
Melbourne, Australia
Email: joey@creatingpositivespaces.com.au
Phone: 0401 149 185
Cover Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash
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