Don’t take no as an answer, yet don’t be afraid to give it as one.

It’s often our first word. We learn how to use it often and with abandon.

Then, we forget how to use it.
We think saying it makes us weak.
We somehow correlate it with disappointment.
We don’t want to be impolite.

We think not saying it will make everyone happy.

Deep down, we all know it’s impossible to make everyone happy, but we’re capable of anything.
And everything.
So, we don’t care.
And we don’t say it.

We think if we don’t say it, we’ll have more power.
We group it together with other things we don’t want to leave on the table.
And leaving things on the table is unacceptable when success is at stake.

We say yes to the possibilities.
We say yes to power.
We say yes to too much.

And, by doing that we silently say no to ourselves.

What we really need to do is travel back in time to when we weren’t afraid to say it.
We were expected to say it.
We need to summon our inner toddler and shout it out loud.

Don’t take no as an answer, yet don’t be afraid to give it as one.

That’s the key.