There’s a hard conversation you’ve either been actively avoiding or one that you know you need to have:
—Maybe it’s with your boss about the way your workload has been steadily increasing while your pay has not…..
—Or with your mother-in-law about how she steps in to parent your child when you're right there…
—Or with your partner about how you want to re-distribute the household chore load…
But the fear of disappointing them is paralyzing.
So you spend SO MUCH TIME:
- Spinning worst-case scenarios - convinced they'll hate you, never speak to you again, or think you're selfish
- Constantly second-guessing: "Maybe I should just say yes... it's not that big of a deal... I can handle it"
- Fear that people only like you because you always say yes - and terror about who you'll be if you start disappointing people
- Trying to find elaborate workarounds to avoid disappointing them (even when it costs you significantly more time, money, or energy)
- Calculating how much you can sacrifice before you completely burn out
It adds up to HOURS of your life-ruminating and spinning out- and so much energy.
It’s fucking exhausting and you want it all to just go away…
You can’t people-please your way to peace. But you can learn to tolerate the discomfort of disappointing others-without losing yourself in shame, guilt, or overthinking.