Do you tend to say YES before you know what you are saying YES to?
How often does what you say YES to end up being a lot more work than you initially thought?
Most people want to be helpful and automatically say YES. This can cause frustration, stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, which leads to poor quality work, missing deadlines, lack of credibility and trust, and damaged relationships.
In the moment when someone asks you to take something on – breathe to ground you. This is critical to provide you time to respond versus react.
Establishing three criteria that are important to you to use as a gauge of whether to say YES or no will help you stay true to your values and what’s important to you. Post them near you, or put them in your wallet, so you can refer to them when you feel compelled to say YES when you know it doesn’t meet your 3 criteria.
Here are some tips to feel more comfortable when determining whether to take something on, refer to someone else or just say no:
- Qualify what actually needs to be done before saying YES
Ask questions to clarify what is needed and determine if it is something that you are qualified to do and it makes sense for you to do at this time. If not, is there someone else you can refer them to which may be a win-win for everyone? Or is it something that makes sense to say no?
- Use your tools such as your Goals, Schedule and To Do List to determine if it is aligned with your goals and fits into your workload.
If you decide it is not feasible for you to take on at this time, tell them why and be honest so they understand your reasoning. This step is important to continually build relationships.
- Lastly, don’t feel obligated.
We tend to want to help people and feel like we can do it all. It will hurt us and them by doing this.
Take some time to think about what your three criteria are for saying YES. It will provide you a lifetime of peace, joy, and satisfaction in all aspects of your life.