Write Yourself a ‘No’ List
Tuesday was International Day of Happiness, and I really wasn’t feeling it. All day I was trying to think of some inspirational, positive uplifting words and ideas to share with the world, but it just wasn’t happening and I felt a bit of a fraud to be honest. So after a bit of a mini breakdown, I had a breakthrough! I realised that I can’t force myself to do stuff when I’m just not feeling it in my heart and that it’s actually quite exhausting too. I started thinking of all the things that I’m pushing myself to do that I really don’t want to or because I think I should. Things that I’m saying yes to but I really want to say no. Things that I’ve been doing for a long time, that are no longer right for me. And what I ended up with was 2 lists….
A ‘Hell Yeah!’ list!
A ‘No thanks’ list!
The ‘hell yeah’ list was full of stuff that really excites me, the stuff that when someone asks me about it I can’t wait to talk about it, the stuff that comes naturally to me, things like running my fresh air sessions, speaking with young people about their hopes and dreams, creating experiences for people that are outside of the norm like my Soulful Sunrise events. These are all things that really fire me up!
The ‘no thanks’ list had lots of ‘shoulds’ on there, things I have been doing because it was good advice at the time, things I have kept doing because I started them and didn’t want to let people down, some things that seem very logical and reasonable to do, but they just don’t feel right. As I was writing this list, it felt so relieving and empowering! It reminded me that I am in control of my life and how I spend my time, that it’s ok for me to just say no thanks and cross it off my list.
I felt like I had a spring clean of my mind, all day I kept adding things to my no list and saying ‘and another thing I’m not going to be doing……’ It’s been so freeing! I often feel like there’s more I need to be doing, achieving, working for, but actually sometimes it’s the opposite, we need to get stuff out of the way to make room for new things to come into our life.
So if you were to make a ‘No Thanks’ list what would be on it? What are the things you say yes to, keep doing out of habit, or do because you think your should? Get them on your No list and stop doing them! You will be surprised how much it frees you up so you can spend more time hanging out with your ‘Hell Yeah’ list!
And if you’re interested in spending some ‘Hell Yeah’ time with me, I would love to hang out with you at one of my Fresh Air sessions or one of my Soulful Sunrise events. There will be more happening over the Spring/Summer.