I have trouble saying “no”.\u00a0 And I know I\u2019m not alone in that boat! (Right?)<\/p>\n

Many of us have trouble saying “no”. And while we may be very aware of that and are working to change. The mere thought of having to say “no” for fear of disappointing someone or missing out on something can fill us with anxiety.<\/p>\n

You may know you should say “no”\u00a0but uttering those words and trying to find the right way to phrase it can prove to be very difficult. So difficult, that \u201cno\u201d may never be said.<\/p>\n

What if you said “yes” instead?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When you live your life guided by what’s really important to you, your values, your passions, your interests, your life’s work, you establish a litmus test to which you can measure opportunities and requests against.\u00a0 So when something comes up and doesn’t align with\u00a0what’s really important to you, you can say “no” to that option and say “yes” to your values, your priorities, to your life’s work, the stuff that really matters.<\/p>\n

Saying \u201cyes\u201d to what really matters, will by default say \u201cno\u201d to what doesn\u2019t.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

It even works in those cases when an opportunity is a good one.\u00a0 For example, my friend Tara had invited me to do a Brene Brown course with her. You may already know this about me, just in case, let it be said that I love<\/em> the work of Brene Brown.\u00a0 I\u2019ve done some of her courses before.\u00a0 In fact, this latest course caught my attention in my own inbox.\u00a0 However, I also knew I already had a lot on my plate.\u00a0 Between my daughter who was only 3 months at the time, and some work initiatives I really wanted to get started on, I knew that the course would probably absorb what little time I did have available, taking my focus away from my current priorities. I knew myself well enough to know that I would love doing the course so much that I would procrastinate on other things, especially those new work initiatives.<\/p>\n

The timing just wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0 I knew this in my heart but I battled internally. I didn\u2019t want to say no for fear of disappointing my friend and for fear of missing out.\u00a0 What if the course is never offered again?\u00a0 By the way, anytime fear is presenting this way, you may be seeing things from a scarcity mindset.<\/p>\n

In the end, I said “yes” to giving my focus and attention to the two areas that were most important to me at the time, my family and these new work initiatives.\u00a0 Tara was not disappointed in me, in fact we ended up working closely together. \u00a0I even asked her to join me in my new work initiatives. I\u2019m hopeful the course will be offered again but if not, I know there will be other opportunities in the future.\u00a0 I am so happy with the advancement of my work initiatives that I haven\u2019t once regretted not doing the course.<\/p>\n

So instead of focusing on what you are saying “no” to, focus on what you are saying “yes” to.\u00a0 Are you saying “yes” to what matters most <\/em>to you?<\/p>\n

Not sure what matter\u2019s most to you?\u00a0 Take the\u00a0free values assessment<\/a> to begin the journey to understanding your life priorities.<\/p>\n

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I have trouble saying “no”.\u00a0 And I know I\u2019m not alone in that boat! (Right?) Many of us have trouble saying “no”. And while we may be very aware of that and are working to change. The mere thought of having to say “no” for fear of disappointing someone or missing out on something can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Say-Yes-2.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rIpx-ct","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1509,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/1509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}