In our culture, we’re told to say yes. By being a “Yes Man” the world will open up to us. But just like we saw in the Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man, saying yes to everything only leads to burnout, and often, some other complex issues (like the repercussions of saying yes to every spam email you’ve ever gotten.)
I used to say yes to every invite we got for friends events. I would offer up my calendar link to clients giving them full control over my schedule and where I needed to be. But what I continue to learn about life is it’s a balance. Say no too often and you don’t really get to live, say yes too often and you don’t actually enjoy the things you’re saying yes to.
So I set up boundaries. I look at my schedule and see how many things I have going on that week or month before accepting an invite to a friend’s event. I also limit the time slots that I give to clients to schedule meetings with me leaving a 3-hour window 4 days a week for them to choose from. This way I can do my best work in the hours I know work best for me.
It fits perfectly that in a recent episode of That’s A Hard NO podcast, I share all the ways I’m learning to say no so that I can start saying yes to me and my needs.
While we talk a lot about using these no’s in marketing, we also walk through all areas of our life where we can start to say no and take better care of ourselves. It looks differently for all of us, but in starting to create your own boundaries and live life by your rules, you’ll find a freedom and happiness you didn’t know existed.
There are no real rules. So embrace that hard no and see what a few more boundaries and a little more balance can do for you. Listen to the episode now!
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