Five reasons you should say ‘No’ more often

We’re so used to saying “yes” too many times. Sometimes, it’s out of the feeling of guilt of saying “no” to people. Other times, it’s easier to just say “yes” and worry about the consequences later on. And for some of us, it’s our emphatic and nurturing personalized playing that is hard.

We’re all too familiar with “No”, the two-letter word we so often do not like to hear or say to someone else.

As negative as the word “no” is mostly seen, using this negation can have some positive effects on your life.

Wondering how? Here are five reasons you need to begin saying “no” today:

• Saying No Reduces Stress

If you’ve experienced regret from saying yes to a request too quickly, then you’ll understand the stress that accompanies it.

By learning to take a pause before giving an answer to a request, you save yourself the stress of answering a quick yes to a request which you’d rather not attempt or look into at the moment.

Work Overload is a major stressor and saying yes too many times will definitely result in stress.

• Saying No Saves Energy

This is very true. Saying yes too many times will definitely result in committing oneself to too many things.

While this is a stressor, this will also result in a person’s fatigue as their time for rest would be spent attending to tasks they have committed to.

By saying no more often, your energy will be saved resulting in a higher mental and physical well-being.

• Saying No Gives You The Chance To Be More Honest

It’s ironic how saying yes in trying to be emphatic and helpful can be dishonest.

This is because although one might say yes to a request, they might not necessarily be in the mood to do that task.

By saying no more often, you’ll learn how to be truly honest when affirming one’s request. This is a great character boost, to say the least.

• Saying No For A Better Yes

How many times have you said yes to many unimportant things without the time or strength to attend to the important things in your life?

By learning to say no, you’ll save yourself the space to begin to say yes to more important things. This will eventually lead to your happiness and satisfaction as you take greater strides in your life.

• Saying No Helps Create Boundaries

A lot of yeses we’ve said are to people without respect for our boundaries. By saying more nos to people, you’re indirectly sending them a signal to observe certain boundaries with you.

Of course, this will lead to more people respecting you.

Now that you’ve learned the importance of saying more nos, it is important to write down your personal values and boundaries which will determine who and what you say no and yes to.

It is also important that you say no without a sense of guilt. A good way to practising saying no without feeling guilty is by doing so in a polite, respectable, kind, but factual and sensible way.