The No Woman

The idea that women need to start saying “no” is not new. Then why are we still not doing it? This article explores the reasons why women say “yes”, the concrete benefits of saying “no”, and strategies to actually start saying “no”.

It is not a new idea that women need to start saying “no”. From Oprah’s “The Power of No”, to New York Times articles, to self-help books, it is fairly well known. It also is an underlying guilt of mine – as a people pleaser, I have been a “yes” woman my whole life. As I get older, I have become more aware of the need to change. Working in corporate environments, I felt my feet slip out from under me with the more “yes’s” I said. While it did great things for my career in the short-term, I started to feel like my life was being driven by other people. I knew it was time to get better at saying no. It was time to be a No Woman (as opposed to Jim Carey’s Yes Man). I also knew if I was really going to convince myself to do this, I needed to understand the facts and rationale behind it. I hope sharing this research motivates you to say a few more "no's".