A one-week worksheet

The yes log.

For one week, write down each yes you give. Three questions for every yes. At the end, read down the last column.

From the note How to stop people pleasing: the yes you give while meaning no. New here? Read it first, or just start below.

The three questions

  1. Did anyone ask? They asked, they hinted, or you offered.
  2. Did I want to? Yes, partly, or no.
  3. What did it buy me? Being liked. Being the easy one. Not being the difficult one in the room. Or something else, in your own words.

How to use it

  1. Print the one-page PDF below, or copy the four columns into your notes app.
  2. Fill in a row within the hour, while you still remember your first answer, before the reasons arrived. The small yeses count.
  3. At the end of the week, count the rows where the answer to "Did I want to?" was no. Then read down the last column.
  4. Pick one row to answer differently next time. Start with the one where a no would cost you least.

One page, ten rows, free. No email needed.

Download the PDF

When you find the yeses you did not want to give, you will need a way to say no that is short. There is a builder for that: A clean no.

And if the log shows a pattern you have been carrying for years, that is a conversation more than a worksheet. I keep a free 45-minute call open for exactly that.

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