A calm “that doesn’t work for me” beats a dramatic exit every time.

STILLNESS

WHAT THIS MEANS

A limit does not need volume to hold. Said calmly, it sounds like a fact and tends to be treated like one, while said dramatically it becomes a scene, and the scene is what people remember instead of the limit. Big exits also cost you something, because they need recovering from and they invite a response. Plain words leave nothing to argue with.

Next time something is being decided that you are not up for, try the flat version: that does not work for me. No reason attached, no apology, nothing raised. Practise it once on something small so it is available when it matters.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Where could you decline plainly instead of making a scene?

MORE IN PEACE, BOUNDARIES & INDEPENDENCE

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.