{"id":78772,"date":"2014-08-07T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T13:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=78772"},"modified":"2014-08-07T22:39:33","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T03:39:33","slug":"just-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=78772","title":{"rendered":"Just Say No"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Marian Mays, Senior Editor, INALJ UK<\/a>, Nunavut<\/a>, Yukon<\/a>, Saskatchewan<\/a>, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Just Say No<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"marian-mays\"<\/a>If you\u2019re anything like me, saying no can be difficult. However, taking on too many projects and\u00a0responsibilities can be harmful to our personal health and well-being. Once, when job shadowing\u00a0a librarian, I witnessed something amazing. A fellow co-worker approached her and politely\u00a0inquired if she would be interested in joining his sub-committee. The librarian, after asking a few\u00a0questions, simply said no. I was impressed and surprised, and I learned a valuable lesson. Saying\u00a0no can be easy! Following a simple, self-oriented questionnaire can help you determine the pros and cons of your decision.<\/p>\n

1. Is this healthy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t think about your desires. Instead, think about what you\u2019re sacrificing. Will taking this\u00a0on impact your personal health, safety, happiness or well-being? Will this cause unnecessary\u00a0stress in your life? Will saying yes require you to lie to others? Will saying yes compromise your\u00a0personal beliefs? Will going out tonight make me feel miserable tomorrow?<\/p>\n

2. What are the short and long term consequences of your decision?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will this decision drastically benefit your future career or professional prospects? Are you\u00a0passionate about the decision? Five years from now, will you be glad you made this choice? Is\u00a0the stress really going to be worth it? Will you even remember why you said yes? If the answer\u00a0is no, you should reconsider.<\/p>\n

3. Am I being used?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feeling wanted is amazing. There\u2019s nothing wrong with being able to contribute something\u00a0to a team. However, are you the one that is always asked to help? Are you only being asked\u00a0because someone knows you\u2019ll say yes? Were you manipulated into a situation through passive-\u00a0aggressive, guilt oriented behaviors? Are you a people pleaser? Don\u2019t be afraid to put yourself\u00a0first, and don\u2019t feel selfish or ashamed for doing so.<\/p>\n

4. Am I trying to be recognized?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So many employees don\u2019t get the credit they deserve for their hard work. Humans can be\u00a0negative, critical, and forgetful. Sometimes, we feel that impressing someone will gain us the\u00a0respect we desire. If you\u2019ve been working somewhere for a very long time, don\u2019t expect the\u00a0attitudes of others to change. Instead, decide to change your attitude. Make sure to dig deep\u00a0before saying yes if you\u2019re in a toxic situation. Sometimes, our motives behind the decision\u00a0making process are subconscious.<\/p>\n

5. Am I lonely or bored?<\/strong><\/p>\n

All humans have said yes to something they didn\u2019t want to do to avoid these two things.\u00a0Sometimes we do this at the expense of our happiness and health. Spending time by ourselves\u00a0is crucial to our personal development, even if you\u2019re an extrovert. Learn to spend time with\u00a0yourself. Try catching up on a book, journaling, watching your favorite show, or anything else\u00a0that is creative and self-indulgent. You can\u2019t help others if you\u2019re neglecting yourself.\u00a0and cons of your decision.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t put yourself first, who will? You only live once, so make your choices wisely! If\u00a0you\u2019re looking for some more inspiration on how to say no, check out this great blog from Zen\u00a0Habits! http:\/\/zenhabits.net\/say-no\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Marian Mays, Senior Editor, INALJ UK, Nunavut, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Just Say No If you\u2019re anything like me, saying no can be difficult. However, taking on too many projects and\u00a0responsibilities can be harmful to our personal health and well-being. Once, when job shadowing\u00a0a librarian, I witnessed something amazing. A…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":78813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[146,69,3592,4387,5978,3602,5946,5900,5977,6326,6447,6446,6372,6445],"class_list":["post-78772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-nova-scotia","tag-inalj-nunavut","tag-inalj-prince-edward-island","tag-inalj-saskatchewan","tag-inalj-uk","tag-inalj-yukon","tag-life-advice","tag-making-choices","tag-making-decisions","tag-marian-mays","tag-saying-no"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/MarianM.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-kuw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/78813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}