N-O. IT'S JUST THAT SIMPLE, RIGHT?
Such a simple word, right? Then why is it SO hard to say?! I remember listening to one of Mastin Kipp's videos @mastinkipps earlier this year before attending his #unstucktour. I came across one of his short videos that intrigued me when he stated he would share the secret to finding more time to get things done. I listened eagerly... his answer? Say NO more often. "Wait, that's it?!" I thought. How can this be? Ohhhh... You mean... I say "YES" all too often and one "yes" becomes two, becomes three and before you know it, there's a whole lot LESS time for me.
Who's with me here?!
So then this happens: There's then never enough hours to spend with my daughter, never enough hours to clean the house, oh boy not even finish unpacking for which I moved into my condo almost a year ago now, never enough time to workout (total slacker here), never enough time to buy birthday presents for my nieces and nephews but even if I do find the time, I never have time to get them in the mail, never enough time to take on some new hobbies, never enough time to work on this business of mine (and the list goes on...). There's simply never enough time because I have this real problem with saying NO to people.
Instead, I constantly offer myself to everyone. I'm guilty of putting myself last. I aim to please. I want to help everyone. I can't help but every single time I talk to someone, I offer up ideas to them and then somehow volunteer myself to do the work too. I just can't anymore. Too much in my world is suffering and I have to be honest and be REAL o-k with saying NO. At least until I can take care of myself in all of the areas above and then some.
I know that I'm not alone in this.
Women are superheros, right? We want to do so much for everyone else and put ourselves last. We say yes, and if we do say NO, (bravo, wahoo!) We spend all of this time explaining why we said no. We guilt ourselves into feeling as though we're not allowed to. Which for me, oftentimes means that I'll say NO, but then I'll still end up offering up other solutions to help out in some ways, soooo... that really means I didn't fully say the big word.
When we constantly say "YES" to everyone else, what we're really doing is saying "NO" to ourselves.
Today I made a vow to make time for me again. I made a personal promise to work on my mind + body and get back to a healthier lifestyle of working out and eating better and taking time to rest and get more sleep. I have slacked SO badly for a while and I realized that my body and my health simply do not match the image of what I'm putting out there and I can't sustain this way much longer. I'm pretty sure I'll collapse at one point or another so it was time to call in a professional :) I reached out for help from an amazing, inspiring woman which whom I hope you check her out in case you're hoping for some inspiration too: http://katygillis.tumblr.com/
Aside from the fact that she's got such a soothing, calming voice — she gets me. In fact, she gets women and has trained and given women the tools they need to be their own personal trainers during her 11 years in fitness. I bet all of her over 2,800 clients would agree. She really help put my mind at ease that I can make this transformation for myself. I'm looking forward to sharing my journey along the way but I really just wanted to give insight on my own personal struggles to show women they're not alone and send out a little friendly reminder to everyone that it is OK to say NO and by the way, it's more than ok to say "YES" especially if that yes is to yourself — I wholeheartedly believe that you're worth it.
xox, Tiffany
