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Sunday, March 20, 2022

Learning to Say No Is an Important Life Skill

 

The Effective Ways to Say No Can Relieve You from Stress


Blogger: Have You Learnt to Say No?

Reader: NO

Blogger: Let’s Learn How to Say No


Often it becomes very difficult to say NO if people ask for something. Actually we are wired to connect ‘YES’ with love, care and support of that person. Conversely, ‘no’ is taken as rejection; it may provoke ire in our heart, we start deleting those people from our friends’ list and harbour grudges against them. So we prefer not to take the risk of sounding flippant and inadvertently keep on churning our own regrets and helplessness after saying ‘YES’ to something we really don’t want to. Saying no is an important skill and we can’t say yes to everyone and every time. People feel annoyed and disheartened when hear no, so it’s really arduous to escape such situations. Learning to say no is an important life skill, you have to be courteous enough while saying no. It’s pretty natural to not agreeing every time but one should take care while saying no or showing disagreement. One should never make others feel insulted, ‘No’ must never be mistaken with disrespect and apathy towards your near and dear ones. So it’s one of the most important skills- how to say NO to someone when you are not in a position to help them. Let’s read a few tips to say NO without hurting people.

Learning to Say No


Don’t Show Yourself Busy

As every relationship rests on the bedrock of trust and mutual understanding and saying NO is considered as neglecting the people who trust and love you so it’s a very sensitive issue to discuss how to learn to say no. Never say no while being ostentatious in your attitude. If you show off that you are very busy and that’s why can’t help your friend or colleague, it will certainly show the stingy side of your personality. It will be rude and unacceptable so don’t say ‘NO’ abruptly. Take a pause and politely convey that you are preoccupied with certain other engagements, hence can’t help in this matter. Always buy time for yourself as it’s not necessary to respond each and every request quickly and in an affirmative manner.


Learning to Say No


Avoid Making False Excuses

Often we feel a social or emotional pressure if it becomes urgent to say NO to our near ones. In an attempt to save our relationship, we make false excuses which in turn make us guilty of our own act. The approach required to deal with such situations should involve being courteous in saying; “I’m sorry, I can’t do it right now but will soon let you know if I can help you in this matter.” Making excuses and telling lies will only raise your burden to handle the whole mountain of the mole so just provide a short and appropriate explanation of why you can’t say yes at that moment. Saying no doesn’t become a problem if uttered in an effective and honest way; we propagate the issue if we don’t have a sincere approach and ultimately leading it to communication gaps and relationship problems.


Be Assertive and Polite

Sometimes we are caught up in a situation when we have to say NO to our elders and bosses and it can ruin a lot if the negation is not expressed genuinely. An abrupt NO will be worst option even if you are true to them, so displaying your naivety at such delicate points may lead to harsh consequences.  Be Mindful and seek permission before nay saying. For example you can express your inability by putting forward your apt reasons for saying NO to that particular responsibility or task. You may leave a question in the end as, “Tell me what/how can I do it?” or “I need more time to complete this, will that be okay?” Avoid indulging in arguments to prove your point as such habits may worsen your problems.


Set a Boundary Around You

It’s always wise to draw a line around you that none can cross and demand undue favors from you. Sometimes people find it a real struggle to say NO because they haven’t tried to evaluate their bond with that person. If your relationship is strong enough, both the sides will respect each others’ limitations and privacy parameters. When you set your limits and make people aware of those limits, they won’t intrude into this zone and ask for unreasonable expectations. Our uncompromising adherence to be liked and admired by everyone often make us prey to this deadly habit of being willing for everything. And this is the all-pervasive intrusion in one’s privacy leading to spoiled relations, so never let anyone cross the boundary line which you have drawn for yourself.  

Saying NO, sometimes teaches us to be selfish but being selfish is not a bad thing as far as you are focusing on your goals and priorities. If you have a habit of prioritizing others' needs and expectations over your own; you will fall into procrastination and will end up in frustration. It will be deterrent to your productivity and feelings of dissatisfaction will start mounting. Many people use the tactics of manipulation to overload others and get relieved from their own responsibilities. Think before you say yes to help someone; analyze whether the solicitation is a genuine need or a tactful one.

 

The purpose of your Life isn’t to become a people pleaser neither to be a clown who makes everyone happy and laugh. Never be tempted to say yes with this feeling that people may start hating you if you say NO to them. Because when things are not in your control and you commit for something, you start developing awful feelings and resentment for yourself which snatches away your peace of mind. Be confident that your NO will not damage any of your Relationship rather it will develop a realistic perspective in all your connections. Be firm in your Decisions, draw the boundaries and learn to say NO comfortably.


Always remember when decisions are taken in haste, requests are granted in a jiffy we are often forced to repent at leisure, so pause for a while, check your priorities and finally decide on a YES. And then no regrets!!!

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Life is Always What You Make It Not How You Get It


Make Your Life The Way You Want To Live It


Dr. K Sivan, Indian Space Scientist, the Former Chairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) and popularly known as the Rocket Man of India has been an inspiration for many young scientists and aspiring youth of India. The glorious saga of his perseverance and attaining excellence to finally living all his dreams seems to be an incredible journey, a manifestation of this belief, life is always what you make it, not how you get it.


K. Sivan, son of a humble mango farmer, born in a small village, is the first graduate from his village. He did a lot of hard work in his father’s mango fields. He continued to help his father even during his college days. Sivan wanted to pursue engineering but due to lack of funds he couldn’t convince his father. He protested, remained on hunger strike for a week but of no avail. Finally he surrendered and took admission in B. Sc. Mathematics. When he completed his graduation, his father agreed to send him to an engineering college and he joined MIT in 1980. Sivan never had a pair of chappals till he got admission in Madras Institute of Technology, wherever he would go whether school or at relatives’ he was barefoot. Sivan struggled a lot with choices and preferences throughout his career; he wanted to join Satellite Centre but was appointed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, he wanted to be a part of Air Dynamics Group but was given PSLV Project. But whatever was assigned to him, he put his heart and soul to accomplish the same and there was no turning back. He worked on the design and development of launch vehicles for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Under his leadership, ISRO had a successful launch of 104 satellites in one go on February 15, 2017 which is a world record and a phenomenal achievement by ISRO.


K. Sivan recalled very nostalgically, “Whatever came in front of me as a Challenge I just wanted to give my 100% perfection and dedication to it. I never spent time in thinking what I didn’t get in my life; I just gave my best to whatever assigned to me- right from the mango fields, school life or job, I never paid attention on what I was expecting. You always don’t get what you want in life, so acknowledge what life gifts you and perform your best at it. When any small or ordinary thing is done with utmost precision and perfection, it becomes extraordinary.”


This insightful story gives enough food for mind and proves life is what you make it, not how you get it. Let’s see how we can practice it with small steps:


Life is What You Make it


Your Decisions Steer the Course of Your Life

Your decisions must be based on your optimistic attitude towards the future possibilities and your planning to materialize them. Everyone makes mistakes and mistakes don’t mean you should change your mindset and start living in fear and making each of your decisions under inhibitions. No matter how strong or average your profile or personality is, you always leave an impact through your decisions and how you deal with the challenges. So keep being impressive and impactful without measuring the magnitude of your achievements. Be innovative and pragmatic in your Decision Making Abilities because extraordinary people never take interest in doing simple and easy things, they develop enough resilience to accept new challenges and embrace failures in their life.


Your Body-Mind is Designed for Hard Work not Leisure

Keep pushing your body and mind beyond their limits and see the results, if you don’t feel like grinding yourself, you develop a habit of giving excuses and that’s the best time, you need to pause and question your sincerity towards your goals. The belief that thoughts have unlimited power is a much-mulled inference. Our thoughts are a constant source of infinite Emotions and energy which gradually help conditioning of subconscious mind. When thoughts dwell on leading a goal-oriented, fruitful life, we get infused with positivity and our maximum potential which in turn lead to enhanced efficiency, productive thought process and a winning approach. Just like human mind, human body is an equally amazing machine and meant to function relentlessly. Nature has given us no scope for idleness and lethargy so put your honest efforts in the hard work required to achieve all your goals and make your life the way you want to live it!

 

Lack of Self Discipline is Slavery

Any difficult task and its accomplishment is a mental challenge not physical one and to accept any competition, you need to instruct your mind before you train your body and acquire all those skills necessary to accomplish the task. Self discipline is the key to success and it takes long to train your brain so as to achieve the desired results in your pursuit. There are three important benefits of inculcating self discipline in your life- you have control over all your emotions, so if something tempts you against your goals you stay firm and focused. Secondly, you start thinking positively about your win and it keeps you consistent to strive hard for your dreams. No change, no victory, no revolution can happen in a day, it’s a long period of hard work spent with self discipline. You are not an independent person if you are not self disciplined person; you are just a slave of your own whims and fancies. Lack of self discipline is a major deterrent to becoming aware of your strengths and capabilities.


Make Your Life



Dear Reader, life is like a roller coaster ride, punctuated by many happy, unhappy, adverse and challenging events and every punctuation mark offers us a hidden achievement- either a win or a lesson. Get rid of your self-sabotaging habits and look forward to be a better version of yourself.  Let’s practice to have the sagacity to embrace the learning at each milestone and keep carving the masterpiece-the LIFE itself, the most precious gift of God.

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