Yes, It's OK To Say "No!" Revisited

Once upon a time, I was an over-committed community volunteer headed for burnout.  Things were bad.  I felt angry and resentful. Any joy I had ever found in giving my time to charitable organizations I admired was long gone.

I dropped all activities but one (my professional association) and learned how to put boundaries around my giving. And I wrote about my learning in an article called Yes, It's OK To Say "No!"  I regularly get requests from publishers and other coaches and consultants for permission to use it in their work.

Today, I had a reason to revisit the article.  I received an e-mail from someone we'll call "Lori," who finds that the newsletter she's producing for a volunteer organization is taking twice as long to do as she was led to expect.  She was looking for advice.  She wrote: "I’m inclined to keep my word and trudge on, but this last month’s issue took away from my family and job responsibilities. If I say no and stop doing the newsletter, does this set a bad example for my kids, telling them it’s OK to quit after I’ve committed to something? " It was this concern about what sort of lessons we teach through our behaviours that touched me the most.