How many times have you

h e a r d yo u r se l f s aying ye s to t he wrong t hings

overw h el min g r equ e s ts , b a d r e lati o ns hi p s , ti m e - c o n s um i n g

ob l ig at ion s? H ow of te n h av e y o u w i s h e d y o u c o uld s u m m o n
t h e po w e r to tu r n the m d o w n?
 A well-placed “No”
ca n n ot o nly s ave you t im e and t roubl e ,
i t ca n s av e y our life.

N o is a n in cred ibly pa i nfu l, b r av e w o r d to s ay. H o w m a n y

t im es h ave you h a d t o s ay no o n ly to h av e i t c a u s e a n gui sh,
d esper at io n , a r gum e nts , a n d a n x i e ty ?
 But you have the right
to s ay no:
To an yt h in g t h at is h urti n g y o u. T o s ta nda r ds that n o lo nge r
s e rve you . T o peopl e w ho dr a i n y o u o f y o u r c r e ati v i ty a n d
e xpr ession . T o b el ie fs that a r e no t tr ue to th e r e a l y o u.
1. Saying No to Social Pressure
Wh e n we w e r e c h i l d r e n w e w e r e ta ught to be polite, to be ni c e, a nd to s a y y e s at all o f
th e wro n g m o m e n t s . T h i s l e a d s us to be pres s ured by c ollea gues , ins ti tuti ons, b o sse s,
f r i e n d s , a nd fa m ily to a ttend to their needs .

T h e k e y to s ay i n g ‘ n o’ to t his p r essur e is ABC

A ck n owled g e wh at th ey a r e
p r e s s ur in g you in to
“ I h av e to leave in five m in u tes.”
A f t e r a few m in u tes, leave.
Vi ew these oppor t unit ies
as educati on. View t hese
obstacl es as ways t o lear n
how to grow. Wit hout
l earni ng to say no, you can
never l earn to say a t r ue
yes to you.
2. Saying No to Negative Chatter
So m e time s w e g e t s t u c k i n n e g a tiv e c ha tter tha t bec om es a runni ng c om m entar y o n o u r
live s, m u ch l i k e a n e w s a n c h o r who onl y tells us the ba d news tha t ha ppens a ll d ay lo n g .

Ex a mp le s o f n e g at i v e c h at t e r :

“How could he do this to me?” “Why does that person look like an idiot?” “Do I look ugly”?
“How am I going to survive my job today?” “Am I going to be able to pay the bills?
And on and on.

Ofte n we b e a t o u r s e l v e s u p i n wa y s i n whic h we woul d nev er bea t up s om e o n e w e

lo ve d . Th i s i s t h e w o r s t f o r m o f c ruel ty. I t’s a da ily pra c ti c e to rec ogniz e whe n t h is is
h a ppeni ng, a nd s a y “no”.
 3. Saying No to People You Know Are Not Good for You

You wi ll n e ver fi n d y o ur ow n c re at iv e tal e nt by say ing “yes”

to all o f the p e o p l e w h o s e e k t o dra i n y ou wi th rel a tions hips tha t go nowhere, o r p e o p le
wh o t r y t o c o n t r o l y o u o r p u t y ou down, or people who c hea t y ou or l ie to yo u .

I n thi s a r e a it is p re t t y bl ac k and w h it e :

e ith e r y o u a r e s u p p o r t e d b y thos e a round y ou, or y ou a re dra gged i nto the sp ir al

d r a i n o f t h e t oi let, a nd off y ou go to s om e s ewer.
 4. Say No to Jealousy
J e a l ous y is unavoidabl e
So take it f o r w h a t i t i s : a r o a d m a p to get y ours el f out of pri s on. J ea lous y i s a g u id e t o
w h a t i s g o i n g o n i n s i de of y ou. I t’s nev er a bout the other pers on.

“ Maybe I feel like I can’t be loved unless I have billions.”

“Or I look like a movie star.”
“Or I have 20 bestselling books.”

Th e ro o ts o f e n v y c a n b e a n y t h i n g. B ut I ha v e to go to work toda y. T he one th in g I can

ch o o se is n o t t o b e a s h a m e d o f it. To s a y, “O k a y, this is m y c ha l lenge for the d ay. ” To
a c c ept i t. A n d s ay “N o ”.
 5. Say No to Being a Slave
Yo u wak e u p b e f o r e d a w n . Yo u tra v el. You work ha rd. You c om e hom e l a te. Yo u ’ r e
fe e lin g st u c k . Yo u ’r e m i l d l y d e p r es s ed a nd m a y ta k e m edic a ti on for thi s . A nd yo u h ave
t r o u ble s l eepi ng a nd diges ting.

For al l of yo u r slaving away, all your bos s ha s to s ay i s “ You’re f i re d” a n d that ’ s t h e en d.

S tud y th e l ive s o f p e o p le w ho ar e n ’ t s lav e s .

Wh a t d id t he y do? S t u d y t h e peopl e online who s eem to ha v e brok en free. Wh at
are th e y d o i n g ? K e e p w o r k i n g on y our idea m us c l e. You do thi s by wri ti ng do w n t e n
id e as a d a y. I t d o e s n ’t m a t t e r w ha t the i dea s a re. I t does n’t m a tter i f they ar e g o o d
o r b ad . T h i s i s j u s t e x e r c i s i n g . T his is phy s ic a l thera py a pplied to the m ind so t h at
y o u r i dea m us c l e does n’t a trophy.
6. Say No to Sudden Thought Attacks
I wake u p a t t h r e e i n t h e m orning ev ery da y. I c a n’t help it. I a lm os t ha v e p o st -
trau m atic s t r e s s f r o m t h e m a n y, m a ny ti m es I ’ v e wok en up i n a pa ni c a t thre e in t h e
m o r n i ng to a flurry of ba d thoughts .

Looking back, nothing ever happened that I predicted at three in the morning

I’ll say it again: Nothing I ever predicted at three in the morning ever came true. Ever.

So here’s what I do now, which you can use as an exercise.

I say to myself, “Nothing I ever predict at three in the morning comes true. I’m tired now and need to sleep.

Say “No” to thought attacks, as they rarely (if ever) lead to anything productive.
 7. Say No to Abusive People
A lway s ask y our se l f :

How do I feel about myself when I am around this person?

Do I feel good about myself?

If th e an s w e r i s n o , y o u k n o w y o u need to m ov e a wa y from the pers on. T he ke y is n o t

to e n g ag e . Yo u n e e d t o q u a r a n t i ne the a bus iv e pers on’s dis ea s e a nd not let i t sp r e ad .
O t h e r wis e i t wi ll m a k e y ou s ic k , too.
 8. Say No to Bad Luck
W e h av e a love af fair wit h “luck.”
Sometimes we chase it. Sometimes it teases us. Sometimes we have it for a while.
So m e time s w h e n w e e x p e c t a k i s s , it runs a wa y in the ra in, l ea v i ng us s c a red an d lo n e ly.

Lu ck is so m e t h i n g t h a t i s e a r n e d, a nd onc e y ou ha v e ea rned i t, y ou will a lways kn o w

h o w to g e t i t b a c k . Yo u w i l l s a y no to the peopl e who try to bri ng y ou down, wh o t r y t o
u se th e i r o w n b a d l u c k t o c ontrol y ou bec a us e they c a n’t c l im b to y our heig h t s.

You will say no to the people who try to bring you down, who try to use
their own bad luck to control you because they can’t climb to your heights.
9. Say No to Incoming Negative Energies
Pe o p le o f t e n t r y t o p r o v o k e u s . T hey wa nt a res pons e. T hey a re lonel y a nd the y n e e d
u s to b e a n g r y o r u p s e t o r s c a r ed or a s ha m ed s o they won’t be a s l onel y. A nd it ’s e asy
t o f a l l i n t o t h e i r t r a p . To get s uc k ed i nto the v ortex of nega ti v i ty.

The key is to notice it,

notice when it starts to well up in your head.

Then stop it. Say no to it.

 10. Say No to Self-Sabotage
Th i n k o f y o u r l i f e a s a t r ain s ta tion. You a re on the pl a tform a nd y ou s ee
a t r a i n a p p r o a c h i n g . Yo u r eal l y w an t t h i s t r ai n t o b e yo u r t r ai n .

B u t t hi s t r a in is not m e ant t o st op h e re .

S e n s i n g t h a t t h e t r a i n is not s toppi ng, y ou jum p onto the tra c k s ,

t o t h e h o r ror of a ll the peopl e a round y ou.

Meanwhile, the train that is meant for you, the one that is your train by divine design, is right behind this
one. Only you cannot see this because you are too busy causing unnecessary drama.

To say n o t o s e l f -s a b o t a g e , g e t out of the tra i n tra c k s a nd a c c ept the fl ow of lif e . Le t

th e t r a i n c o n t i n u e , w i s h i t wel l a s it lea v es , a nd trus t tha t y ours is c om in g .
T ha t’s a l l i t ta k es .
11. Say No to an Untimely Death
Ofte n we a r e g i v e n r e c i p e s f o r “s uc c es s ” to get “m oti v a ted! ” to fi nd “pur p o se !”
Make you r t o -d o l i s t s ! D o t h i s ! D o tha t! Ta k e thes e pills a nd c a ll us in the mo r n in g !

S o m e ti m e s i t ’ s i m portant t o not do m ore t h ings ,

ev e n i f y o u t h i n k t h o s e thi ngs wi ll i m prov e y our l ife. S om eti m es i t’s

i m p o r t a n t t o do l es s in order to a ttra c t a bunda nc e.

There’s a very simple trick to living longer. And it doesn’t involve

doing more things. We almost feel silly telling you this:
Don’t do things that will cause you to die.
12) Say No to Mindless Selfishness
Many peo ple say, “ L i v e l i f e l i ke i t’s your l a s t day.” W e ge t i t.
L e a r n t o a p p r ec iate ev er yth ing a r o u nd yo u .

Bu t o fte n p e o p l e t a k e t h a t e x p r e s s i on to m ea n tha t y ou s houl d liv e l ife witho u t car in g .

Th a t y o u c a n d o a n y t h i n g y ou wa nt bec a us e tom orrow m i ght not a rri v e.

Th in k o f s o m e o n e y o u l o v e . O r m a ny peopl e y ou lov e. H ere’s a new s a y ing to t r y o u t .

Se e h o w t h i s i m p r o v e s t h e i n t e r a c ti ons y ou ha v e toda y. “Trea t ev ery one el s e as if it ’s
thei r la s t da y. ”

Eve n th o ug h i t m a y s o u n d a l i t t l e m orbi d to i m a gine tha t people a round us a re ab o u t t o

d ie , in rea l i t y, t h i s s i m p l e m i n d tri c k hel ps us let go of the m i ndles s s elfi s hn e ss t h at
o c c u pies m os t of our thoughts .
 Wh e n yo u p r o t e c t y o u r s e l f f r o m the people a nd s i tua tions tha t will hurt y ou. Wh e n yo u
sh ie ld yo u rs e l f f r o m t h e s t o r i e s a nd m y ths y our c ol lea gues , friends , fa m ily, a nd in st it u t io n s
u se to co n t r o l y o u . W h e n y o u f i n ally s a y no to the inner c ondi ti oning a nd ps y c ho lo g y t h at
y o u r b r a i n f o r c e s o n y ou in its m i s gui ded a ttem pts to protec t y ou.

Th e Po w e r o f N o c a n f r e e u s from the s oc iety, the i ns ti tuti ons , the fri ends , lo ve s,

co lle ag u e s, bo s s e s , a n d b e l i e f s y s t em s tha t tri ed to build a c a ge a round us . T ho se t h at t r ie d
a nd s till try to c ontrol us .

Always remember: It’s one thing to say no.

It’s another thing to have “the Power of No.”