Reading this book* about being an introvert is just amazing. I find myself nodding at every other sentence ‘yup, that’s me’. It can be difficult to navigate a world that sees extroverts as the norm. But if we introverts are aware of how we react to the world and that that reaction is alright, that there’s nothing wrong with us, then it will be a lot easier. Because we will be a lot easier on ourselves! And knowing yourself and how you respond to the..demands of an extroverted world will help build character, make you stronger…
Since I’ve been working on my book, saying no has become really important. A few exciting possibilities, or maybe-could-be possibilities, have popped up, but I’ve said no to all of them. Yes, maybe I could have done one or two of them, but then there would have been even less time to do non-work related stuff.
It’s a bit like living on a tight budget; as there’s no wiggle room, you can walk past that cute bag without regret because the budget’s the budget and there’s nothing you can do. Well, you can buy the bag, but then you may have to live on pasta and ketchup for two weeks. Not exactly nutritious.
I’m realising that maybe a “time budget” is a good idea. There are only so many hours in a day and it’s important that we learn how to spend them in a sensible fashion…
If I said yes to take on several big projects at the same time, I probably could do it. But I’d probably have to give up sleeping because I’d blown my time budget. Not exactly healthy – and my work would suffer because of it. So it’s actually quite easy to say no to things without regret.
Saying No to others is a Yes to myself. :-)
*Affiliate link