Weekly Motivation: Dare to Say No & Ask For Help

Many many years ago, a friend of mine phoned me to share a tip for working in the office:

“You should always keep your desk really messy at work and pretend to be busy. When someone comes to you and asks for something, raise your head slowly and look at that person with a frown on your face.”

That made me laugh so hard.

Ironically, I never had the luxury to pretend to be busy while I was working in the office. I was always extremely busy.

I was brought up as a polite & timid Chinese girl who would yes to everything that other people at work ask me to do. As a result, I was a doormat in the office, working with at least 2 people’s workload without extra pay.

My desk was always piled with paperwork and files. My work inbox was flooded with messages everyday & I hardly had time to go to the toilet.

You can see where this is going… After this happened to me indifferent workplaces repeatedly, I quit office job for good.

Thinking back, I can’t blame everything on corporate environment. It was totally my fault.

I was too weak for office politics. I always wanted to try my best to help others but never dared to say NO or ask for help. As a result, I was exploited to the extreme & left with nothing.

If you don’t look after yourself, who will?

This world is not meant to be for faint- hearted:).

Be kind regardless, but be strong & stand up for yourself.