The hardest no you’ll say is to people you like. Practice on small things.

Refusing somebody you do not care about is easy, which is why most people believe they can say no. With someone you like, the refusal feels like withdrawing a bit of affection, so you say yes and carry the resentment quietly, and the relationship pays for it later anyway. The skill is detaching the no from the regard, out loud, so they hear both.

Practise on small things this week. A lift you cannot really do, a shift swap, a Saturday you want back. Say no and then say something warm, in that order.