Google ‘learning to say no’ and you will find website after website giving you tips on why learning to say no is important and how you can do it. It is clearly something that doesn’t come naturally to many of us.
In amongst that you will notice that a lot of these links suggest that the ability to say no is linked to having a less stressful life. It’s one of the reasons ‘Saying No’ is part of our resilience and wellbeing series. Saying yes to everything that comes your way has a direct impact on your wellbeing, whether through overwhelm, anxiety, resentment, stress or a similar feeling.
Saying no can feel stressful in and of itself, especially if it is something that doesn’t come naturally to us. So if you are learning to say no, be gentle with yourself and be kind to yourself. Recognise when you have said yes instead of no, note it and let it go. There will be another time that comes round where you will have the opportunity to say no. And celebrate when you get it right!
Learning to say no takes practice. Whilst a simple ‘no’ is definitely sufficient, for some of you other phrases will be more helpful as you learn how to say no. So in today’s blog we’ve included ten ways to say no that go beyond the simple ‘no’. Ways that can feel more gentle and can help you build up that practice.
Try using some of these and let us know how you get on.
Are there any that you would add?
