Just Say No: Don’t Do What Displeases You

Have you ever been asked to take someone to the airport at an ungodly hour (or just in the middle of rush hour), agreed to do it, and loathed everything about it and them? 

Buddy, you should have said no. You can do that, you know. Often, people forget that they have this magical power; the ability to refuse. They run around gleefully accepting tasks and then walk away fuming. WHY?!?! 

Look, I know you can’t reject everything that comes your way, but you can skip the stuff that puts you out or otherwise causes you misery. You have enough obligatory stuff that you can’t do anything about. What I want you to stop doing is accepting tasks that you hate and then talking shit later. I don’t want you doing me any favors while cussing me out under your breath. 

A lot of you think you need a special reason to say “No”. You don’t. I love to tell people, “‘No’ is a complete sentence.” Meaning, you don’t owe anyone an explanation. Of course, if you want to keep things friendly, you can offer up an explanation. It can be as simple as, “I’m busy at that time,” or “I just don’t have the bandwidth to get that done.” That’s it. Don’t make up elaborate stories; you’ll just have to recall the details later and then you’ll look like a schmuck when you get them wrong. 

People who ask favors of others should be aware that the ask is just that: an ASK. The person could say yes or no. Be prepared for either one and deal with it. 

I think the world would be a much happier place if we stopped agreeing to things we didn’t want to. If you want to sprinkle a little Biblical flavor into this, God loves a cheerful giver. If you can’t be happy about it, simply leave it alone. Life’s too short for muttering obscenities under your breath whenever you’re asked to do something.