How to say no and mean it

A number of millennials have been at the receiving end of unrequited love and unless you are cold or insensitive, the right approach is always difficult to come to. We never know how to turn down requests to go on dates and other forms of respectable advances.

This is also made worse when the person infatuated with you is someone very nice, but sadly just not your type. I feel like many of us still do not know how to let someone down gently without going for the classic millennial route; ghosting.

Rejecting someone is not easy all. You have to be gentle and nice to that person because, while you may break their heart and hurt them, that is not the intention. But if someone has a crush on you and the feeling is not mutual, then you owe it to them to let them know. It should be nice and gentle so that they do not feel insulted.

When expressing the truth does not work, try to maintain a distance. There are ways you can keep them at a distance without completely cutting off communication and making them think you took offense to their ‘proposal’.

There are a lot of people out there who will not take no for an answer and in order to avoid this always, have your boundaries set with people known to you or not.

Saying no and disentangling yourself from unwanted attention is a crucial skill to long-term success in dating and relationships. These skills, once learned, can be applied in most areas of your life to great success.

When you first start dating, you are likely to meet a number of people. For instance, when you first put an online profile up on a dating app such as Tinder, you are literally the new kid on the block and all of the other kids will be motivated to check you out. You will have several people approaching you, sending you messages unprovoked. Because this is how the system operates.

When you understand how to say no and mean it, you, ironically, increase your options, because you are more likely to take a chance since you know that you will be able to get rid of the person if it does not work out. You will also be more comfortable moving in and out of relationships, and you will not waste a lot of time on the wrong people.

An additional bonus is that when you learn to say no and mean it, you automatically come across as more confident. And, not surprisingly, people are more likely to take no as an answer from a confident person than they are from someone whom they think they can bully.

Once you have mastered the skill, the less you will need it, because the people you will want to get rid of will be able to tell that you are a person that knows their own mind. They will also recognise you as someone of your word.

On the other hand, if you do not learn to say no and mean it, you will be less likely to take a chance with anyone since you will be too afraid of getting attention that you do not want. You will also waste a lot of time disentangling yourself from unwanted relationships, which can be a drain on your time and energy and may also prevent you from meeting people whose attention you actually do want.

Note

If you do not learn to say no and mean it, you will be less likely to take a chance with anyone since you will be too afraid of getting attention that you do not want. You will also waste a lot of time disentangling yourself from unwanted relationships, which can be a drain on your time and energy and may also prevent you from meeting people whose attention you actually do want.