A short spoken-advice segment by Nataliey Bitature about how to decline events and invitations confidently. The speaker recommends preparing a brief scripted refusal (e.g., a sticky-note reminder), practicing variations, setting boundaries to avoid burnout, and reassures listeners that people generally do not react negatively when you decline.
If you give people reasons for your no, they will come at you and be like, oh, but we can do it this way. Oh, we can study later. Oh, you can do it this time. And you don't need that kind of stress and pressure. Once you have decided that it's a no. So have, you know, like, written down. I did that for the first few months. It was on a sticky note on my desk at the office and I had to remind myself and I just say it and read it off the sticky note. So sorry I'm not available at this time, but please do think of me in future. I had to find a way that worked for me. So you can practice different variations, but it's a useful thing to have ready because you can't say yes to everything. You just finish. You burn out all your time and energy and it doesn't work. So know what you want to say no to and then practice saying it and then say it. It helps. It frees up so much more of your time. And the first few times I did it at the time of the event or the thing that I had said no to, I would realize, like, wow, I could be at that event right now. Thank goodness I said no because I'm here doing something more important or something that I already said yes to. And so it reaffirmed to me that it's the right thing to do. And people don't get mad. I was really scared. People be upset. I. When.
