Since the new year (and our near month long flu virus) we have made a couple changes around our house to try to stay healthy and sane. Our goal is simple this year, to work on doing life at a slower pace. There are some things that will never change, I will always NEED to travel. But when we are home, we are slowing down. And slowing down does not happen without one major change…learning to say ‘no.’

Just this one tiny change has made our lives SOO much calmer and better this month. It is something I have always been bad at but never noticed just how bad I was until I had BB. Having a child brings into sharp focus the reality that there are a finite number of hours in a day. I’ve never so appreciated having free time. A couple weekends ago we had NO plans for the first time in months and it was liberating. Our weekend was calm, no rushing, no running from place to place, and it felt GOOD. So we are simplifying our lives by learning to say no so weekends like that can happen more often.

But there is an art to saying no. It’s not like snapping your fingers and giving up sugar. It can be uncomfortable and hard. Like anything else, good things take time + effort. If you struggle with this concept as much as I do, here is some Monday motivation to learn to stop saying yes and start saying no.

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Learn to say no without giving an excuse. Saying no is hard. Saying no without giving an excuse is even harder. Every day, I am trying to remind myself that it’s ok to say no to an invitation even if I don’t have other plans. No excuses, I don’t need to explain myself, I can simply say ‘no.’

Saying no does not make me a bad friend, or a bad person, it is just a form of self-care.

“The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say ‘no’ to just about everything.” -Warren Buffet

Setting boundaries is healthy.

Try to learn to say no without a side of guilt.

Don’t say maybe when you really want to (or know you eventually will) say ‘no.’

Say ‘no’ to the things you don’t want to do, so you can say ‘yes’ to the things you do.

“Focusing is about saying no” -Steve Jobs

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ps- Blake asked if he could join our girl gang. To this I did say ‘yes,’ but scrunchies are required. Outfit details linked below the post.