It is important to learn to say no and to be okay with it. Learning to say no helps us to reach our goals, spend and save money how we need and want to, keeps us safe and helps us to cut down on our stress. If you are currently stressed, not achieving your goals or find yourself in unsafe circumstances, then this blog may be for you. There are multiple ways to say no. Saying things like, "not right now" or "it's not a good time", "thank you for the offer, that will not work for me right now" etc are all examples of how to say no. We don't always have to come right out and say "no", however, there are times when that is the only way to say "No".
There are times when saying no to our present is saying yes to our future. This is one reason why it is so important to set goals. When we have goals we have a clear understanding of what we are giving up when we say yes to things and no to others. Another idea that helps us to say no, is to have a schedule. When we make a schedule, it can be easier to say to no, because we know what we are doing that day and time and can let the other the person know. For example, if I am invited to a movie, but I have a goal to save $1000 and not spend until it's saved, then I may say something like, "thanks so much for the offer, but I am trying to save $1000 right now. I would love to go with you as soon as I hit my goal, but thanks for asking." An example of how a schedule can help you say no, may be, "thanks so much for the invite, tonight is Tuesday and I am running this evening and I have to go through my budget, but thanks so much for the invite."
These ideas help us to not only say no, but to also to be mindful of what we are saying no to if we do say yes, when we know we need to say no. For the first example, had I said "yes" then I would be saying no to achieving my goal of saving $1000. In the second example, had I said yes, I would then be saying no to taking care of my health and making sure I am staying on track of my finances. The inability to say no, can also greatly increase our stress and often times, it's because of what we are saying "no" to, and it's usually to ourselves.
This week, try making a schedule and setting some goals and then use them to help you to say no. Check out our other blogs for tips on goal setting and schedule making.
Take care everyone and thanks for reading!