Want to Cope with Stress ? ... Do not Say 'Yes' when you want to Say 'No'.

Your cannot think of a life without any stress and stress has become a part and parcel of your life. Further, a certain amount of stress is also necessary for your enhanced performance in any situation.


You will become stressed out the moment you realise that you cannot carryout the job or fulfill the needs that is expected out of you in a situation. Imagine a situation, where in you are supposed to do a job in a prescribed time and towards the end of that prescribed time, you might have completed the job only half full. The more the time or the deadline is nearing, the more you will feel the stress.

So, it is better you evaluate the situation or the job that has been allocated to you in the first instance itself. And, you may, according to your exposure or talent, may either accept the job or totally avoid. Suppose, you are asked for a favour by your colleague or neighbour, and if you accept the responsibility without ascertaining whether you will be able to do that, you find yourself in precarious situation if you are not in a position to accomplish the task.

So, it is better if you politely refuse the help sought by making the point clear to them why you cannot do that favour. You may wonder about the opinion of the people that they can form about you due to your turning down their request, but it is preferable in the initial stage itself to be very diplomatic in taking the responsibility. The stress that you will be facing if you are not completing the favour will be very high than that of a situation where in you might have declined to help.

In the process of your accepting to help or sort out the issues that has been sought from you, you also stand a chance of creating certain level of expectations in the minds of the other party. So, your un-thoughtful acceptance of the responsibility may also lead to more stress, apart from the failing scenario, due to impact of the opinion that the other party might form in the event of your delay or failure in meeting your commitments.

It is always better to discuss the issues thread bare in the initial stages itself so as to have a clear picture as how to go about in any situation. In a situation of your acceptance, you may come across a situation you might not have expected. However, this surprise turn around of the situation will be well appreciated by the other parties and the same may not result in stress in you.

So, if you can learn how to say 'No' when you want to say 'No', then you may be facing less stress in your life.