10 Ways to Say NO Without Feeling Guilty (For Entrepreneurs Who Are Doing the MOST)

We all have 24 hours in a day. If you discount the 6 hours of sleep, 4 hours of preparing and eating food, 1 hour of fitness or self-care, 2 hours of getting yourself together, 4 hours of general life tasks, and the 3 hours you spent yesterday on social media (yes, I’m talking to you); that only leaves you with about 4 hours a day of REAL work in your business.

Worse, if you are splitting that time constantly being interrupted by phone notifications, phone calls, family members, or other distractions, that time may get cut down by as much as 50%. This is the reason that sometimes, no matter how hard you “worked” it still feels like you have not accomplished anything at the end of the day.

Now, there are all kinds of things you can do to be more efficient with your time, but we will save that for another article. This article is meant for those of you who are right now operating at your actual physical limit. You have absolutely no time more time to sit on another board, start another project, or have your brain picked over coffee. You are going into time debt in order to please other people or feel more accomplished.

If this is you, then you need to be saying NO to everything for the next 90 days at a minimum but you are still saying YES by default.

Keep in mind, if you are telling someone “NO”, you really don’t need to provide any justification. NO is by itself a full answer. However, if you tend to be more of a people pleaser (like me) and want a few ways to gracefully say no without feeling bad about it here are 15 ways to say NO without feeling guilty:

1. No, but thank you for thinking of me.

2. I am not accepting any new clients or projects.

3. Sounds really interesting, but it's not for me.

4. I would not be the best fit for this opportunity.

5. I appreciate the thought but, not at this time.

6. My calendar for these kinds of opportunities is full for the (month, quarter, year).

7. Thanks so much, but I will pass for now.

8. Thanks, I can’t do this, but would you like me to refer someone else from my network who may be a better fit.

9. I can’t now, but please keep me in mind for future opportunities.

10. Thanks for thinking of me but this opportunity is not in alignment with my goals for the year.

Remember, it is your responsibility and yours alone to protect your peace, and the easiest way to do that if you are feeling overwhelmed is to just say No.

About the author:

Brian J. Olds is the President & Founder of Black Speakers Network (BSN), a membership-based professional speaker development and empowerment company. With an active network of more than 10,000 speakers, BSN is committed to equipping, connecting, and inspiring the next generation of professional Black speakers. He can be reached directly at [email protected] or learn more at https://www.BlackSpeakersNetwork.com