Little girls are taught to give in to every whim of their brothers, daughters to be good, accommodative and women are told to appease their husbands and their families until eternity. Females all over the globe are raised to be compassionate (read: compliant) and are extensively trained to say YES! to everyone, all the time. Be deceived not, we the ‘Women’ play a significant role as being the guards to our own confinement. The way we preciously wrap our traditional femininity around us is the reason we are choking.

More often than not, we find ourselves refusing to say ‘NO’ under the pretense of being swallowed by guilt, self-loathing and insecurities. In the race to make everyone happy, we will never cross that finish line. Ladies, I have for you a resolution to make: To learn to wield the power of ‘NO’ and stop being the ‘YES’ girl.

The Yes Girl may be the epitome of compassion and selflessness, it may make the perfect prospective Indian bride, but it won’t ever make us happy in the long run. Building boundaries and nurturing our self-worth will. Putting our needs before everybody else’s, don’t worry about letting someone else down; instead focus on ourself. Lets show ourself some of that love and care. Read more about why we as women put our needs second.

Let's not be afraid to offend or to inconvenience when we are the one feeling uncomfortable. It’s our basic right. Let no one make us feel otherwise. Behold and realize the power of this two syllable word ‘NO’ and lets save ourselves from reluctantly participating in things that do not add value to us or our life.

Get this, everything in our life, our money, our energy and especially our time is finite and is going to run out sooner than we know. So spend it wisely ladies. Save our ‘YES’ to what truly counts and throw around ‘NOs’ like confetti to make our lives colorful and buoyant.

Well, after all that being stated, the most important point is yet to be made. If we wish not to be the puppet in someone else’s control, we must be the one to gear up and take up our own reigns, work those jaws and say NO to people.

Lots of opportunities will present themselves in your daily lives, lets follow our heart and maybe start by saying NO to an unapologetic boss, judgmental friend, controlling parents or even your dominant significant other?

Don’t be that spineless girl who concedes! Rejecting or refusing is necessary and a key counterpart to obliging. Scaling back on those half-hearted commitments before you burnout will be a major step towards a productive and happy existence. The newfound sense of autonomy and respect for our personal boundary will enforce the standard of our worth. 

Today’s world is different from what it used to be and that has not been achieved by people who merely gave in and gratified others but it has been transformed by people who rebelled and led the revolution. Be the change you want to see in the world, in your life. Living without a choice, a say and consent is futile, while living our life freely, in contentment with self-belief is just a ‘NO’ away. Choose wisely.