As humans we're predisposed to want to make our lives easier, to make everyone around us happy and content. We spend our days undertaking mundane tasks in an effort to please, our spare time with people we'd really rather see only when absolutely necessary, and as a Brit it's even harder to peel yourself away from obligations rather than doing what makes you content. Our lives are busier than ever, our working weeks bleeding into our weekends and FOMO (fear of missing out) is becoming a very real problem - all because we're not very good at saying no. Learning to use those two little letters will really change your life and free up your incredibly valuable time to do what makes you happy (or what actually makes you money.) In order to live an efficient, happy and healthy life it's vital to get to grips with the word 'no' and start putting it to practice.
I've spent such a long time feeling guilted into doing things I didn't want to, or feeling obliged to help people out when they provided absolutely nothing in return. I've wasted so many days away in unproductive meetings, given people huge amounts of advice for them to never follow through on promises, and spent so much money on trips and nights out when I'd really rather be at home in bed watching Netflix. Something clicked in me as I turned 30 and I started to live the life that I wanted, acting a little more selfishly and focusing on what made me happy - rather than always what pleased other people. Since then I've re...