Humans are social animals and they cannot help themselves without interacting with one another. In their communications, an easy “YES” always wins over the difficult “NO”. However this often creates a lot of problems. Living in a ‘Yes’ in our culture, we prioritise the other person’s comfort over our own, even when we are confronted with a difficult situation., However, this ‘yes-no’ game always defines the potential of our relations.
Vanessa M. Patrick and associate professor of Marketing at the University of Houston says, “the ability to communicate ‘NO’ reflects that you are in the driver’s seat of your life’’. But, it needs a lot of strength to believe in, and practice, this lesson. Unfortunately, we feel compelled to accept every request made by our friends, family, and colleagues. We agree to do favors to others but, at the end of the day, we either overload ourselves or sacrifice our time of failing to meet the already made commitment.
Hence, it is necessary to learn how to say “NO” when someone asks you to step outside your true responsibilities and comfort zone which is either dangerous or adversely affects your inner and outer personalities.
We often forget the fact that we should place ourselves at the top of our priority list. We give up our mental tranquility for the sake of others because there is a widespread belief that the more compromises one makes, the simpler it will be to live one’s life. If we think more openly, we find that it gets harder and harder to the point when life gets meaningless. There is no ease in making others happy, but living with inner turmoil. If one wants to achieve some real goals in life, the art of saying no is a must-learn to realize one’s worth. It only gives mental peace but also a sense of self-care, freedom, and independence. We develop the unnecessary need of saying “YES” and guilty of saying “NO” since our childhood. Childhood experiences and influences are key to formulating our behaviors such as “I am loveable only if I say ‘yes’ to everything”. Children are taught to always say ‘yes’ even to what they want to say ‘no’. Their Self-esteem is badly crushed because saying ‘no’ is considered rude and disrespectful towards others. During this whole saying ‘yes’ culture the self-respect of the person is gone for sure.
Our Opinions matter to those who understand us. Our yes or no will not take them away from us. Such straightforward behavior will help make our relations clearer and firm. Those people who are direct in their answers are more trustworthy and dependable.