“You don’t have to change what you want just because someone else wants something different. All you have to do is clarify — with grace and firmness — that your goals are different. And they’ll get it.”
Saying no doesn’t have to be as hard as it seems and it’s likely many of the people you say no to will actually thank you for it if you approach it in the right way.
Jocelyn K. Glei shares a story about how she said no to a recent request and what happened as a result. She also offers specific examples of how to say no and suggests the upside of everybody being so busy is that nobody wants to waste their valuable time.