PP 281: The Yes Sickness

Kim Sutton Do you ever feel like you have the yes sickness? Like no matter what you tell yourself and no matter how full your calendar is, something inside you just blurt out the word Yes whenever anybody asks you to do anything. You know in your heart and in your mind that what you really should be saying is no, my calendar is full. I’m over committed. I’m exhausted. I’m worn out. I’m burnt out. I cannot say yes. But there’s that bug. It just creeps up and without you being able to do anything, it just flies out of your mouth. Whenever anybody asks you to do something, Yes, I can do that. I am Superman or Superwoman and I can take over the world and I can do everything that everybody asks me to do. No, you can’t. Today, I want you to try to find that magic no pill and conquer the yes sickness. Left untreated, that yes sickness is going to lead to exhaustion, irritability, anxiousness and the inability to cook dinner. Yes, I know. I’ve burnt dinner way too much in the past because I’ve said yes way too often. And those yeses even took over my ability to cook. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m just a bad cooker. But I’m trying to make a point here. Your friends and family deserve to see your face in the light of day, or in the dark of night for that matter. But if you keep on saying yes to everybody else besides yourself, then you’re going to have to keep on saying no to the people that you love. And they don’t deserve that and neither do you. So find the magic no pill today. Learn how to shout the word NO at the top of your lungs. And then take it down to a reasonable level so that when somebody asks you if you can do something, you can say in confidence, No, just no. And leave it at that. Now with all this said, go forth and make it a positive and productive day.