Last time I talked about healthy boundaries in sport. Today, I want to talk about setting boundaries in personal life.
Boundaries are incredibly important in life because they allow us to create and maintain space for ourselves and our needs. When we don’t create space for our needs, we end up in an extremely dark place where we don’t feel valued or worthy.
We often find ourselves in situations where we struggle to say, “No”. Whether it’s an extra hour of work, helping out on an extra project, delaying a workout because we’ve added something extra to the schedule, or taken on someone else’s burden to help. We often have the best intentions in mind when we do this but the catch is that they’re directed entirely towards other people.
By saying no to ourselves, we say yes to helping other people get their needs met. It is kind and good to do when it is within limits, while maintaining our boundaries. When it’s not within our boundaries, however, it is unkind to ourselves.
Learning to say no is difficult and uncomfortable at times.. but it’s mostly about learning to say yes to ourselves.
How can you say no to someone else…so that you can say yes to yourself?
“By saying no to ourselves, we say yes to helping other people get their needs met. It is kind and good to do when it is within limits, while maintaining our boundaries. When it’s not within our boundaries, however, it is unkind to ourselves.”
– Coach Lauren
