reframing no

The past few weeks I’ve felt like I’ve been saying “no” to more things. Specifically, I’ve said “no” to caffeine. “No” to bagels and muffins. “No” (loosely) to alcohol.

Suddenly, I was living a very restricted life. I had multiple people reach out to suggest alternatives so that I wouldn’t need to restrict myself and keep saying no.

I know willpower is not sufficient for behavior change. The thing is, I didn’t really feel like I was relying on willpower. I was giving these things up because I was saying yes to other things. I was prioritizing my health and happiness over the short term benefits.

And that’s the key. The issue isn’t the behavior change - it was the perspective.

No is a powerful word, but it’s often not the whole story. By stepping back and looking at the larger picture, it’s often relatively easy to reshape a narrative in a positive light.

Additional Reading

• Reframing no | ALearningADay - Rohan’s incredibly well timed post inspired this one.