The Power of Saying NO!

'I'm too busy' or 'I have a lot on!' - how many of you use at least one of these sentences regularly?

I know that I am guilty of that!

But despite the above, the act of saying 'No' is still not very common.

So why is that?

Because let's face it, if you were to say no to more things, you would automatically create time to either dedicate to something else you enjoy or simply decrease your stress levels.

As women, however, we tend to be people pleasers and with that, our ability to say 'NO' to something we don't want to do, diminishes.

This is true both at work and in your personal life.

To help you illustrate this, how many of you resonate with the example below from one of my clients (let's call her Jane due to privacy)?

Jane has two daughters and as she only works part-time, so whenever she is around the house, she wants to make sure she's doing fun things with her kids.

As a result, every time someone invited them for a playdate, she was saying 'Yes' when deep down all she wanted to do was to chill at home with her girls.

Why was she doing that?

Firstly, because she thought that it was what the daughters wanted and, secondly, she didn't want to say 'no' to the person who was asking, as she didn't want the person to be upset or to think less of her (was she a lazy mum?).

But when she got the courage to say 'no' to a playdate, two key things happened: first, she realized her daughters preferred to stay home with her, and, second, she felt great! She was in control of her time and the way she spent it.

And that's really what's so powerful with this little word: it puts you back in control of your life!

Although this is quite a simple example, it truly demonstrates the way that saying 'no' can positively impact you - particularly as it contributes to your confidence. It feels liberating to say 'no' when you're so used to saying 'yes'!

Let's get down to business, then!

To say 'no' in the office can be harder than to say it in your personal life, but it can be equally (if not more) powerful.

So, how can you start to say 'no' in the office?

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Before you agree or disagree to do something at work, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is what is being asked of you part of your job description?
2. Do you have the extra time to do it?
3. If something extra, what benefits will it bring you (e.g. put you on track to a promotion, demonstrate a new skill to your team/ manager, etc.)?
4. Do you enjoy doing what's being asked of you?
5. If you say 'no', will it come with any consequence?

You see, we are all defaulted to say 'yes' to everything, even if it means that you'll have to work out of hours!

So before you jump into your typical answer, truly assess what is being asked of you to see if this is something you can say 'no' to, as no benefit will be generated for you if you say 'yes' and no negative consequence will happen if you say 'no'.

The ability to say 'no' to things will put you back in control of your time and your activities and this alone will massively increase your confidence and your authority at work.

If you're looking for further ways to increase your confidence and progress in your career, I invite you to watch the replay of my recently delivered FREE training: (How to Become) Unapologetically Ambitious - you can access it here: