Tough Question Tuesday How do you say No - When I Grow Up

Tough Question Tuesday How do you say No - When I Grow Up As a recovering people pleaser, the word No was just never in my vocabulary. It was actually one of the first things I ever worked on with my very first life coach: establishing boundaries, how not to say Yes (and then cancel at the last minute!) when you mean No thank you, how to reclaim my time for my coaching classes and business stuff without feeling like I was a bad friend/daughter/girlfriend (which I was at the time). I remember the analogy Joanne used then that stuck to me like glue. When youre on a place and they take you through the safety schpeel, they tell you that you must put your own mask on before you can help anyone else. Why do you think that is? It came to me right away: Because you cant help anyone else when youre passed out in the aisle! I vowed then and there: no more white lies and no more saying yes when I had no intention of following through. Its wasnt fair to me or the person involved. It was a lose-lose situation. So, for me, it was all about crafting and practicing! how I was gonna say no without feeling like a bad person. I came up with something like, I just cant put this on my plate right now, but thank you so much for thinking of me! I remember having agita about not giving some kind of an excuse, but I learned something that made my head explode: If I dont give an excuse, the person Im talking to usually doesnt ask for one. Win-win. How do you say No? Here are my Grads with their answers! (Click on their pics to be taken to their blogs/businesses/sites!) How do you say No?  Cant wait to read your response in the comments!