Saying No

I hate saying no, it's hard. However, along with the supposed to's I talked about yesterday, saying no is something I'm working on. My inability to say no has led to me being PTA president, Little League President, Chair of 8th grade graduation and other fun things. In case you forget, I have three kids and work full time at a fairly demanding job (I'm an attorney). Anyhow, it's not that I haven't enjoyed doing those things or that I regret saying yes but those things did increase the stress of my daily life. I have 3 new rules for when I might say no to  something.

1) I will not say no because I am afraid.
2) I will not say no if I have already committed.
3)I probably won't say no at all but I might modify or negotiate the ask.

Now, before you think I am amazingly clever for coming up with this, I must give credit where credit is due. I found these new "rules to live by" if you will on an older post by the fabulous blogger, The College Prepster. You can read her original post here. But it really struck a chord. I have long tried to make everyone happy, I'm a pleaser by nature. It's the modify or negotiate the ask piece that I'm most interested in trying. What about you? How do you say no? Or do you?