Do You Have Trouble Saying “Yes” Too Often as a Business Owner?

Has saying “yes” too often gotten you into trouble as a businessperson? Have you ignored that little voice deep down inside telling you to say “no”? If so, you are likely over-committed, undervalued, and exhausted. It is time to start listening to that little voice and start saying “YES” to yourself. 

What good will that do? Let’s find out.

When we have a hard time saying “no” to others and ourselves, then we are are putting others first, before ourselves. There may be a fear that saying “no” will result in less money, fewer clients, and not being liked.  However, if we pause for a moment and take a look at the bigger picture, what we notice is that we are lacking respect for ourselves, our expertise, our time, our value, and our ability to support ourselves as business owners.

Let’s stop hurting ourselves by saying “yes” all the time. Instead, let’s start creating boundaries for ourselves so when can show up for ourselves and others the way know how and begin to live the life that we want to live!

How to Place Boundaries on Ourselves

Decide what you want

Determine what inspires you and keeps you motivated? What gets in the way of moving forward and reaching goals? What do you need to shift in your life to reach those goals?

Set a Schedule

Set a schedule for work and home. How many hours do you want to work per week. What days and times work best for me and my family/lifestyle?  How much money do you need to charge to make enough to live on, to create a savings, and to have extra spending money?  How would you like to live?  

Prioritize

Prioritize what is important to you. Family, friends, exercise, me time, free time, play time, work time.

Don’t Budge

Don’t budge your time, budget your time and stick to it. This is where you can fall into a trap. Oh, saying “yes” this one time, then another time comes, and another, and soon enough, you are back to where you started…over committed, not enough time, and depleted.

Hire Help

Hire an assistant. Read more about how to determine if its a good time to hire an assistant. It may also be valuable to hire a business coach to set short and long term goals, prioritize tasks.

By setting boundaries for yourself, this practice will allow you to start saying “YES” to what is important to you–what inspires and motivates you. You can have the business YOU want to have, and YOU can be the business owner that you want to be!

Read Lisa’s other tips for business owners elsewhere on this blog!