<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>professional boundaries Archives - Braving Boundaries</title> <atom:link href="https://bravingboundaries.com/tag/professional-boundaries/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://bravingboundaries.com/tag/professional-boundaries/</link> <description>PROFESSIONAL LIFE COACHING & TRAINING</description> <lastBuildDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 09:57:24 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-ZA</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <image> <url>https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Asset-1.svg</url> <title>professional boundaries Archives - Braving Boundaries</title> <link>https://bravingboundaries.com/tag/professional-boundaries/</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <item> <title>The Competency Tax – The Exorbitant Price of Being the Most Dependable Person in the Room</title> <link>https://bravingboundaries.com/the-competency-tax-price-of-being-the-most-dependable/</link> <comments>https://bravingboundaries.com/the-competency-tax-price-of-being-the-most-dependable/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[friedaL2020]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 09:57:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Self-awareness]]></category> <category><![CDATA[competency tax]]></category> <category><![CDATA[corporate culture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[emotional labour]]></category> <category><![CDATA[executive coaching]]></category> <category><![CDATA[high performers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category> <category><![CDATA[organisational psychology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[professional boundaries]]></category> <category><![CDATA[reliability]]></category> <category><![CDATA[workplace burnout]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://bravingboundaries.com/?p=235715</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The post <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/the-competency-tax-price-of-being-the-most-dependable/">The Competency Tax – The Exorbitant Price of Being the Most Dependable Person in the Room</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com">Braving Boundaries</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="et_pb_section et_pb_section_0 et_section_regular" > <div class="et_pb_row et_pb_row_0"> <div class="et_pb_column et_pb_column_4_4 et_pb_column_0 et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough et-last-child"> <div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_0 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h5><strong><span style="color: #be9727;"><em>WRITTEN BY ALICIA KOCH, FOUNDER OF <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a style="color: #be9727; text-decoration: underline;" href="https://legalwhizz.wixsite.com/thelegalbelletrist">THE LEGAL BELLETRIST</a></span> </em></span></strong></h5> <p><strong></strong></p> <p class="western">There’s a distinct, dark corporate ritual that occurs when a high-stakes, multi-million-dollar crisis lands on an executive desk at 4:45 PM on a Friday. The leadership team doesn’t assemble an agile task force. They don’t consult a spreadsheet of equitable task distribution. Instead, they look around the room, bypass the fragile egos, ignore the colleagues who practice strategic incompetence like a fine art, and hand the radioactive package directly to the person who has never dropped a ball in their entire career.</p> <p class="western">If you are reading this, chances are high that you are that person. Welcome to the club. Don’t look around for a complimentary cocktail, we’re far too low maintenance to demand refreshments. Unfortunately.</p> <p class="western">In the modern professional ecosystem, we’re taught to view reliability as a supreme virtue, the ultimate currency of the high-calibre executive, the elite legal partner, or the seasoned CEO. We wear our “low-maintenance” badge like a hidden medal of honour. We pride ourselves on being the steady anchor in a sea of volatile personalities, corporate turbulence, and adults who somehow still don’t know how to convert a document to a PDF. Like WTF?!</p> <p class="western">But if we strip away the flattering performance reviews and the intoxicating myth of our own invincibility, a darker reality emerges. Reliability, when elevated to an absolute identity, becomes a profound economic trap. It’s a psychological tax levied against the highly competent, where the payment is extracted in the currency of your own emotional well-being, your relational depth, and your freedom of self-expression. Until you’re nothing more than a husk of your former self.</p> <p class="western">This isn’t a rudimentary lecture on setting boundaries, nor is it a comforting self-help guide on how to stop people-pleasing. People-pleasers act out of a desperate, sweaty fear of rejection (most of the time), they’re fragile and compliance-driven. You, on the other hand, are terrifyingly competent. You act out of a profound sense of duty, capability, and an existential aversion to watching a project look like a crime scene.</p> <p class="western">This is an interrogation of the identity role you have built for yourself – and an audit of the hidden, compounding costs of being the person everyone can count on, while you count on absolutely no one.</p> <p class="western">Sound familiar?</p></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_1 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h2><strong>The Mechanics of the Competency Tax</strong></h2></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_0"> <span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Woman-in-White-Long-Sleeve-Shirt-Wearing-Eyeglasses-Sitting-at-a-Table-View-more-by-Karola-G-from-Pexels.jpg" alt="Woman in White Long Sleeve Shirt Wearing Eyeglasses Sitting at a Table View more by Karola G from Pexels" title="Woman in White Long Sleeve Shirt Wearing Eyeglasses Sitting at a Table View more by Karola G from Pexels" class="wp-image-235738" /></span> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_2 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><p class="western">To understand why reliability is so expensive, we must look at how corporate and social systems treat high-functioning assets. In any operational framework, resources flow toward inefficiency, while burdens flow toward stability. It’s the physics of the modern workplace – the squeaky wheel gets the grease, while the silent, flawlessly functioning wheel gets loaded with the rest of the cargo.</p> <p class="western">Consider the classic management dilemma – you have two vice presidents. VP Alan is an emotional weathervane, his departments are plagued by high turnover, his reports are chronically late, and if you hand him a complex regulatory issue, he’ll spend three weeks loudly hyperventilating before producing a flawed brief. VP Beatrice is a machine. She absorbs chaos, speaks in calm, measured tones, and delivers flawless results ahead of schedule without demanding a single minute of executive handholding.</p> <p class="western">When a critical, career-defining fire needs to be extinguished, who gets the assignment? Beatrice, every single time. Alan is sent to a mandatory corporate wellness retreat to “find his centre”, while Beatrice is handed a shovel and told to go dig another trench.</p> <p class="western">In economics, this is known as a perverse incentive. In organisational psychology, it’s the fundamental mechanism of the Competency Tax. The reward for excellent work is invariably more work, coupled with a radical reduction in systemic support. Because you are “low maintenance”, the system assumes you don’t require maintenance at all. You’re treated like an industrial turbine – expected to run indefinitely at maximum capacity without lubrication, inspections, or downtime, while the erratic, high-maintenance “sports cars” in the garage receive constant tuning, indulgence, and strategic forgiveness.</p> <p class="western">Over time, this creates a profound structural imbalance. The dependable professional becomes the emotional and operational landfill of the organisation. You become the repository for everyone else’s unfinished business, their unmanaged anxieties, and their operational failures, simply because it is universally acknowledged that you can “handle it”.</p> <p class="western">But it turns out that “handling it” is just a polite corporate euphemism for absorbing systemic dysfunction without making a scene.</p></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_3 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h2><strong>The Isolation of the “Low-Maintenance” Asset</strong></h2></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_1"> <span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img decoding="async" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/alone-in-the-crowd-View-more-by-track5-from-Getty-Images-Signature.jpg" alt="alone in the crowd View more by track5 from Getty Images Signature" title="alone in the crowd View more by track5 from Getty Images Signature" class="wp-image-235734" /></span> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_4 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><p class="western">The psychological architecture of the ultra-reliable professional is built on an unspoken contract – <i>I will be flawless, and in exchange, you will leave me alone.</i> This works beautifully for your colleagues and superiors, but it establishes a terrifying form of relational isolation.</p> <p class="western">When you’re universally perceived as the rock, you’re stripped of the right to human fragility. The system categorises you as a provider of stability, never a consumer of it. Consequently, when the dependable person experiences a genuine crisis – a marital breakdown, a health scare, or severe professional burnout – the collective response from their peer group is rarely empathy, it’s profound irritation.</p> <p class="western">Your vulnerability is viewed not as a human moment – because you’re rarely seen as “human” anymore – but as a breach of contract. You have disrupted the ecosystem by forcing others to look at the foundations they took for granted. They look at you with the same panicked resentment you might direct at a refrigerator that suddenly stops cooling your milk. <i>How dare you break down? We had an agreement.</i></p> <p class="western">In his seminal work <i>The Gift of Fear</i>, Gavin de Becker explores how certain behavioural archetypes invite specific societal expectations. While his research largely focuses on safety and threat assessment, the underlying psychological truth applies beautifully to the corporate hierarchy – when you signal absolute self-sufficiency, you actively train your environment to ignore your needs. Because you seemingly have none.</p> <p class="western">De Becker observes a structural truth that perfectly mirrors boardroom dynamics – <i>“We must be alert to the signals we send to others, and we must realize that we actively teach people how to treat us”.</i> When you consistently signal absolute, unbreakable self-sufficiency, you’re effectively conducting a masterclass in how to ignore your own needs.</p> <p class="western">You become invisible in plain sight. No one asks how the CEO is coping with the restructuring. No one checks in on the senior partner who just clocked eighty hours a week to save a botched acquisition. The systemic assumption is that your competence is a mythical shield that renders you immune to pain, exhaustion, or the desire to throw your laptop out of a twentieth-story window. You’re left entirely alone on your pedestal, slowly turning to stone under the weight of everyone else’s expectations.</p></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_5 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_6 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h2><strong>The Eradication of Honesty and Authenticity</strong></h2></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_2"> <span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img decoding="async" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Woman-Wearing-a-Pajama-Holding-Her-Head-View-more-by-Karola-G-from-Pexels.jpg" alt="Woman Wearing a Pajama Holding Her Head View more by Karola G from Pexels" title="Woman Wearing a Pajama Holding Her Head View more by Karola G from Pexels" class="wp-image-235739" /></span> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_7 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><p class="western">The most insidious cost of the reliable identity is the slow, systematic erosion of your ability to speak the absolute truth. When you’re the anchor, your primary utility to the organisation is your predictability. You’re paid to be the adult in the room – the emotional ballast that keeps the ship from capsizing while the rest of the executive committee throws tantrums over parking spaces.</p> <p class="western">This role requires a severe compartmentalisation of your authentic self. If you’re angry, you must suppress it, because an angry anchor causes a panic. If you’re terrified by a sudden market shift, you must mask it, because your fear will validate everyone else’s latent hysteria. You’re forced to trade your genuine emotional reality for a curated performance of unflappable poise.</p> <p class="western">In <i>The Managed Heart</i>, sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild introduces the concept of “emotional labour” – the requirement to induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the desired state of mind in others.<span style="color: #0a0a0a;"><span style="font-family: Arial, serif;"> </span></span>Hochschild writes that this specific strain of psychological management <i>“requires one to induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others”.</i> For the high-calibre professional, emotional labour isn’t an occasional requirement of the job. It <i>is</i> the job.</p> <p class="western">This creates a corrosive internal dissonance. When you’re constantly managing the emotional climate of your executive team or your firm, you lose the capacity for authentic self-expression. You cannot say, <i>“This strategy is a disaster, and I am too exhausted to care if we go bankrupt”.</i> Eeek, can you imagine?</p> <p class="western">Instead, you smile tightly, adjust your “big girl panties”, and say, <i>“We face some fascinating headwind challenges, but my team is fully aligned to optimise the outcome”. </i>Or some such notion.</p> <p class="western">This isn’t diplomacy, it’s a gilded cage. By denying yourself the right to express irritation, fatigue, or dissent, you become complicit in your own exploitation. You present a caricature of invulnerability to the world and then wonder why you feel profoundly lonely in a boardroom full of people who are cheering your performance.</p></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_8 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h2><strong>Relational Infantilisation – Training Your Peers to Be Useless</strong></h2></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_3"> <span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img decoding="async" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Hand-places-a-wooden-figurine-on-a-corporate-hierarchy-chart-wit-View-more-by-DANKO-N-from-natalyadanko.jpg" alt="Hand places a wooden figurine on a corporate hierarchy chart wit View more by DANKO N from natalyadanko" title="Hand places a wooden figurine on a corporate hierarchy chart wit View more by DANKO N from natalyadanko" class="wp-image-235736" /></span> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_9 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><p class="western">We must look in the mirror with absolute, unyielding candour. The reliable person doesn’t just suffer from the incompetence of others, they actively cultivate it. Let’s be honest – your hyper-competence is a bit of a control mechanism. You don’t trust them to do it right, so you do it yourself, and then complain that you have to do everything. It’s a vicious cycle.</p> <p class="western">When you consistently step in to catch every falling knife, you create a profound moral hazard within your organisation and your personal relationships. You treat the adults around you like children, and in response, they predictably behave like kids. Why should a junior partner learn to navigate a complex litigation strategy when they know that if they fumble long enough, you’ll take the file away and draft the briefs yourself? Why should an executive director manage their own department’s budget crisis when they know you will stay up until midnight fixing their spreadsheets while cursing their bloodline under your breath?</p> <p class="western">In organisational behaviour, this is a textbook case of learned helplessness. In organisational behaviour, this is a textbook case of learned helplessness. In their definitive work on psychological conditioning, Peterson, Maier, and Seligman, establish that <i>“when people find that their actions have no impact on their environment, they develop a profound passivity that prevents them from attempting to alter future outcomes.”</i><b> </b></p> <p class="western">By being the ultimate safety net, you prevent the system from experiencing the necessary, corrective pain of its own failures. You act as an emotional buffer between incompetent people and the natural consequences of their incompetence.</p> <p class="western">The psychological toll of this dynamic is immense. You begin to view your peers not as respected collaborators, but as expensive toddlers. A toxic undercurrent of cynicism and resentment begins to pollute your professional relationships. You start to despise the very people who rely on you, viewing them as weak, lazy, or entitled.</p> <p class="western">Yet, you continue to feed their dependency because your entire ego is predicated on being the only person in the building who can get the job done. It’s a brilliant, darkly satirical loop – you complain about carrying the world on your shoulders while desperately tightening the straps on your backpack so nobody can take it off you.</p> <p class="western">The reliable asset is taken for granted because their performance is priced into the baseline of the company. Management doesn’t wake up in the morning wondering how to retain you, they know you’re far too responsible to walk away in the middle of a project. They don’t worry about your morale, because they know your professional pride will compel you to deliver excellence even if you’re entirely miserable.</p> <blockquote> <p class="western"><i>Your stability becomes your economic undoing. You are too valuable to lose, but too predictable to reward with the premium reserved for the wild cards.</i></p> </blockquote></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_10 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h2><strong>Dismantling the Myth of the Sovereign Anchor</strong></h2></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_4"> <span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img decoding="async" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Back-View-of-a-Young-Woman-Walking-on-Stepping-Stones-View-more-by-Wendy-Wei-from-Pexels.jpg" alt="Back View of a Young Woman Walking on Stepping Stones View more by Wendy Wei from Pexels" title="Back View of a Young Woman Walking on Stepping Stones View more by Wendy Wei from Pexels" class="wp-image-235735" /></span> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_11 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><p class="western">How do we escape a trap when the trap is forged from our own virtues?</p> <p class="western">The shift requires a profound, highly uncomfortable re-evaluation of your identity. You must stop viewing your capacity to endure neglect as a sign of strength. Repeat after me – it’s not an achievement to be the person who needs nothing, it’s an operational failure.</p> <p class="western">It just means you’re cheap to run! Read that again.</p> <p class="western">To dismantle this role, you must introduce a controlled, calculated measure of volatility into your professional persona. This isn’t about throwing tantrums or missing deadlines – that’s amateur hour, and frankly, you have too much self-respect for that. It’s about shifting from a posture of unyielding compliance to one of strategic scarcity.</p></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_12 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><h2><strong>The Auditing of Strategic Scarcity</strong></h2></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_13 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner"><ul> <li> <p class="western"><strong>Let the minor fires burn –</strong> stop sprinting across the corporate floor with a fire extinguisher for blazes you didn’t light. If a colleague misses a deadline, don’t absorb their timeline into yours. Let the project stall. Let leadership see where the bottleneck actually resides. Let them smell the smoke.</p> </li> <li> <p class="western"><strong>Charge an administrative tax on your competence –</strong> if you’re asked to step in and save a failing initiative, don’t do it quietly in the dark. Demand the resources, the titles, and the explicit structural authority that should accompany that level of responsibility. If they can’t afford the premium, they don’t get the asset. It may be time for a little gasoline.</p> </li> <li> <p class="western"><strong>Destroy the “Low-Maintenance” brand –</strong> intentionally communicate your operational limits, your fatigue, and your strategic doubts. Force the system to acknowledge that your performance requires active maintenance, investment, and occasionally, being left completely alone. And now, get the matches. It’s about to get toasty.</p> </li> </ul> <p class="western">The next time an avoidable crisis arrives on your desk at the absolute end of the week, take a long, deliberate breath. Look at the radioactive package. Look at the expectant, slightly helpless faces waiting for you to save them from themselves. And remember that every time you choose to be the hero, you’re signing the check for a tax you should’ve stopped paying a long time ago.</p> <p class="western">Step off the pedestal. The ground is much more stable down here, and you don’t have to carry the ceiling.</p> <p class="western">Now listen up – if you’re tired of being the structural safety net for everyone else’s unmanaged chaos, it’s time to stop funding the dysfunction. Shifting away from the identity of the low-maintenance asset requires specialised framework building, objective clinical insight, and strategic repositioning.</p> <p class="western">Don’t wait for the system to change on its own – it won’t as long as you keep running it for free. Contact <b>Frieda Levycky</b> at <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/contact-me/">Braving Boundaries</a> to set up a professional consultation. Learn how to navigate executive change, break down systemic patterns, and build a sustainable leadership framework that works for you, not against you.</p> <p class="western"> <p class="western"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>(Sources used and to whom we owe thanks – <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/becker-fear.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times Archive</a>; De Becker, Gavin. <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Gift-Fear-Survival-Signals-Violence/dp/0316235024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence</a>; <a href="https://www.academia.edu/31891034/The_Gift_of_Fear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Academia</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Managed_Heart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hochschild, Arlie Russell</a></i></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Managed_Heart" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>.</b></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i> The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>; </u></i></span><a href="https://pure.uj.ac.za/en/publications/moral-hazard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Moloi, T., & Marwala, T. (2020). Moral hazard. In Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing (pp. 81-88)</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>; </u></i></span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444883421000413" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Science Direct</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>; </u></i></span><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4920136/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>National Library of Medicine</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>; </u></i></span><a href="https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/lhreformulation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Learned Helplessness in Humans: Critique and Reformulation</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>; </u></i></span><a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-managed-heart/paper" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>University of California Press</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>; </u></i></span><a href="https://seattleanxiety.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Seattle Anxiety Specialists – Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychotherapy</i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>). </u></i></span></p></div> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_5"> <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/book-a-call/"><span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img decoding="async" width="810" height="450" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Mailshot-CTA-images-2.png" alt="" title="Mailshot CTA images (2)" class="wp-image-235731" /></span></a> </div><div class="et_pb_module et_pb_divider et_pb_divider_0 et_pb_divider_position_bottom et_pb_space"><div class="et_pb_divider_internal"></div></div> </div> </div><div class="et_pb_row et_pb_row_1 et_pb_gutters1"> <div class="et_pb_column et_pb_column_1_4 et_pb_column_1 et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough"> <div class="et_pb_module et_pb_image et_pb_image_6"> <span class="et_pb_image_wrap "><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1080" height="1080" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Alicia-Koch-The-Legal-Belletrist.jpg" alt="" title="Alicia Koch - The Legal Belletrist" class="wp-image-1704" /></span> </div> </div><div class="et_pb_column et_pb_column_3_4 et_pb_column_2 et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough et-last-child"> <div class="et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_14 et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light"> <div class="et_pb_text_inner">About the Author, <strong><em>Alicia Koch, Founder of The Legal Belletrist.</em></strong> Alicia, an admitted attorney with over 10 years PQE, and now a legal writer and researcher, has established The Legal Belletrist to assist companies (in different sectors) to write well-researched articles that speak to each company’s core business, enabling growth and commercialism.</p> <p>Click here to visit <a href="https://legalwhizz.wixsite.com/thelegalbelletrist">The Legal Belletrist website</a>. <strong>Email: <a href="mailto:alicia@thebelletrist.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alicia@thebelletrist.com</a> </strong></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/the-competency-tax-price-of-being-the-most-dependable/">The Competency Tax – The Exorbitant Price of Being the Most Dependable Person in the Room</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com">Braving Boundaries</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bravingboundaries.com/the-competency-tax-price-of-being-the-most-dependable/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Saying “Yes” when you should be saying “No”</title> <link>https://bravingboundaries.com/saying-yes-when-you-should-be-saying-no/</link> <comments>https://bravingboundaries.com/saying-yes-when-you-should-be-saying-no/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[friedaL2020]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2021 08:57:02 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category> <category><![CDATA[attorney life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[boundaries]]></category> <category><![CDATA[braving boundaries]]></category> <category><![CDATA[flexible working]]></category> <category><![CDATA[happy lawyer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[hybrid working]]></category> <category><![CDATA[it's ok to say no]]></category> <category><![CDATA[law]]></category> <category><![CDATA[law firm life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[law firm mentality]]></category> <category><![CDATA[lawyer life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[lawyer lifestyle]]></category> <category><![CDATA[lawyers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[learn to say no]]></category> <category><![CDATA[legal life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[life balance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[live your life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[love your life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[personal boundaries]]></category> <category><![CDATA[preserve your time]]></category> <category><![CDATA[productivity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[professional]]></category> <category><![CDATA[professional boundaries]]></category> <category><![CDATA[professionals]]></category> <category><![CDATA[saying no]]></category> <category><![CDATA[take control of your time]]></category> <category><![CDATA[time management]]></category> <category><![CDATA[work-life balance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[workaholic]]></category> <category><![CDATA[working mom]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://bravingboundaries.com/?p=3273</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Learning to say NO is an important step towards creating healthy boundaries. Here are some strategies to help you say NO!</p> <p>The post <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/saying-yes-when-you-should-be-saying-no/">Saying “Yes” when you should be saying “No”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com">Braving Boundaries</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <h5 class="wp-block-heading"><em>WRITTEN BY ALICIA KOCH, FOUNDER OF <a href="https://www.thelegalbelletrist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">THE LEGAL BELLETRIST</a></em></h5> <p></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><em>The pressing need for boundaries…</em></h3> <p>By now, we all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many of us to work from home. <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/the-work-from-home-saga/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A new saga</a> has inevitably emerged and <em>it is not going anywhere. </em></p> <p>In fact, companies are looking to extend the work-from-home situation into a <a href="https://ajs.co.za/2021/08/10/the-best-of-both-worlds-awaits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hybrid model</a> where employees will be working part time at home and part time in the office. The so-called “best of both worlds”. In fact, according to the <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/07/4-strategies-for-building-a-hybrid-workplace-that-works" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harvard Law review</a>, global research has revealed that<em> “72% of corporate leaders plan to offer a hybrid model”</em>. </p> <p>And that may sound encouraging, but there is a saying that continuously pops up – <em>“if it’s too good to be true, it usually is”. </em></p> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><em>A silver lining or a storm cloud waiting to burst?</em></strong></h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2000" height="1500" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-1024x768-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3279"/></figure> <p>We have set up home offices in our spare bedrooms or on our dining room tables and have made the most out of our new situations, often forcing ourselves to find the silver-lining of it all. </p> <p>So we have focused on the positives by relishing in the flexibility our work-from-home lives have afforded us. Many of us have even become more productive, resulting in an almost new-found “extra time” on our hands. <em>Who knew you could get so much done in one day by simply staying put?</em> </p> <p>But the article on Business News Daily, <a href="https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15259-working-from-home-more-productive.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Working From Home Increases Productivity</a>, supports this theory by revealing that <em>“remote employees work 1.4 more days per month than their office-based counterparts, resulting in more than three additional weeks of work per year”.</em></p> <p>And again, that seems encouraging. </p> <p><em>But… is that too good to be true?</em></p> <p>Despite this flexibility and productiveness, our work-from-home situation has made the separation between our work-lives and home-lives extremely difficult. A single door is often not enough to keep the family noise at bay. The inevitable result? <em>The lines between work and home have become extremely blurred.</em></p> <p>And for many of us who have been striving for the comfortable equilibrium that is work-life balance (or <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2020/06/01/how-to-blend-work-and-life-without-losing-your-mind/?sh=1cdf3ea63bbf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work-life blend</a> as the millennials call it), it seems like all our efforts have gone up in smoke. <em>Is work-life balance/blend </em><a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309121" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>even possible anymore</em></a><em>?</em></p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4-1024x768-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3282"/></figure> <p>Let’s be honest, the pandemic has changed the way we feel about prioritising our responsibilities. With all this flexibility and new-found ”extra” time on our hands (due to being <em>“so productive”</em>), a lot of us (especially those of us with our own small start-up businesses) have inevitably <em>started saying “yes” more often than we should be. </em></p> <p>We say yes to please other people, to be team players, to seem more capable, more reliable, more trust worthy and ultimately to help others at our own expense. We say yes because we need the work and the money. Times are tough. So we are resorting to “making hay while the sun shines”. At the cost of our own mental health. </p> <p>Our theme song has changed from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlY90lG_Fuw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Freedom</a> by Pharrell Williams where we were once shouting our <em>“first name is Free, last name is Dom”</em> to Roy Orbison’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNAVrQ96mpA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">You Got it</a> – </p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p><em>“Anything you want, you got it.</em></p><p><em>Anything you need, you got it.</em></p><p><em>Anything at all, you got it”.</em> </p></blockquote> <p>“You got it” is not a bad song, it’s just not what we should be saying. All. The. Time.</p> <p>Because while we might want to say “yes” to everything and “no” to nothing, we need to realise that <em>that is simply not possible</em>.</p> <p>And whilst we continue looking for our silver linings, it kind of feels like <em>storm clouds are rolling in</em>. And waiting to burst. Because with all the “Yesses” being thrown around, <em>something has got to give</em>. </p> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><em>It’s raining, it’s pouring!</em></strong></h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3-1-1024x768-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3281"/></figure> <p>The storm clouds have indeed burst and your ”Yesses” are falling to the earth amidst thunder and lightning, drenching the ground all around you with your unfulfilled promises. </p> <p>You are feeling overwhelmed (understandably) with all the things that you have said yes to. Work is mounting up and the possibility is increasing that in fact, you won’t have any extra time on your hands to get all the work done, that you may miss deadlines and that you may let people down. </p> <p><em>After all, life is full of trade-offs. </em></p> <p>Saying yes to everything, means you are automatically saying no to everything else. And your priorities will start to suffer. And so will your work and your family commitments. </p> <p>Are you asking yourself the right questions here? Are you saying yes to the things you really want to say yes to? <strong>Or are you saying yes because you </strong><strong><em>don’t know how to say no</em></strong><strong>? Or do not know when </strong><strong><em>it is ok to say no?</em></strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.lollydaskal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lolly Daskal</a> believes that saying <em>“no is one of the most important skills you can cultivate. Done right, “no” can help you build better relationships and free you up to do the things that are important to you”</em>. </p> <p>Overextending yourself by over-promising and under-delivering, will inevitably get you trapped in the viscous cycle that is stress, anxiety and possible depression because you will, inevitably, burn out. Do not repeat the mistakes of our <em>pre-work-from-home</em> lifestyles. We should have learnt better by now… </p> <p>After all, World Mental Health Day (which was on Sunday the 10<sup>th</sup> of October this year), reminds us that our mental health is as important as our physical health. Sometimes even more so. And we need to be aware that spreading ourselves too thin has consequences that often result in our mental health suffering. </p> <p>And that is just not ok. Not anymore. Not when we do actually know better.</p> <p>Perhaps it is about time that we <em>learn to say no instead of saying yes!</em></p> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><em>Let’s change our narrative!</em></strong></h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2-1024x768-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3280"/></figure> <p>Perhaps the first way to combat the possibilities of continuously saying yes when we should be saying no is by changing the idea that work-life balance (at the moment) may not be as attainable as it once was (when we were working at our respective offices). And that perhaps our focus should be more on <em>the balance between saying yes and saying no</em>. </p> <p>An article titled <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/the-prioritization-plan-that-brought-balance-to-my-work-and-home-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ could revolutionize your work/life balance</a> states that we need to <em>“learn to say “no” in order to be able to say “yes” </em><strong><em>when it matters most”.</em></strong><em> </em></p> <p>And that is crucial – remember in life there are always trade-offs. So make sure you are choosing the right ones. </p> <p>In addition – </p> <p><em>“When you know your priorities and values – what you want time and energy to say yes to – saying no becomes much simpler” – </em><a href="https://www.mas.co.nz/hub/how-to-say-no-so-you-can-say-yes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to say ‘No’ so you can say ‘Yes’</a>.</p> <p>And that again, is not only crucial but is the crux of doing away with this “Roy Orbisonism” of “<em>Anything you want, you got it”</em> mentality. </p> <p>Because you need to learn what your priorities are so that when it comes time to say no, you are actually able to. The answer will be easy because your goals will be clear. </p> <p>In fact, <a href="https://psychcentral.com/blog/boundaries-why-you-say-yes-when-you-really-mean-no#1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PsychCentral</a> states that <em>“A true yes — a yes that is in line with your values and best interest — you feel with your whole body. It’s easy. There is no doubt. There is no worry.</em></p> <p>And this starts by firstly knowing that <em>it is actually ok to say no in the first place.</em></p> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><em>No is an answer</em></strong></h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/5-1024x768-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3283"/></figure> <p>Not only is it ok to say no but it is sometimes necessary. </p> <p><em>Saying no is actually a perfectly acceptable answer. </em></p> <p>Remember – when you say yes to one thing, you are automatically saying no to something else. And vice-versa. So your choices as to what is more important become ever more relevant. </p> <p>At this point, you may be asking – <em>but how do I go about actually saying no? </em></p> <p>Well, it starts with a number of things – acknowledgements about what you can and cannot do, admissions as to what means most to you and what you are willing to sacrifice, and prioritising those things – </p> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-thumbnail"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1486"/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:66.66%"> <p><strong><em>Firstly, acknowledge that you are not superhuman (read: you cannot do everything)</em></strong> – saying yes to everything will leave you feeling trapped, drowning and struggling for air. You will have no time or energy for yourself and your own best interests will fall by the wayside. So start by choosing the things that you can genuinely do and want to say yes to. Align your life and your choices with your values, with the things that you can do and the things that bring you joy. Stop saying yes for the sake of saying yes.</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-2 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-thumbnail"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1487"/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:66.66%"> <p><strong><em>Set your own personal boundaries</em></strong><em> </em>– by setting boundaries between yourself and others you can get closer to a feeling of equilibrium (that so-called sweet spot of work-life balance). You will show others that you know your own value and are willing to stick up for it. And this starts by making sure that you are clear about what you are actually able to take on. So be clear on what is non-negotiable to you and what you are willing to consider. By having well defined desires, responsibilities and goals, you not only gain clarity over your work but also gain control over your <em>work-life and home-life</em>. Again defining those boundaries. And these boundaries need to be communicated to work colleagues, to clients as well as to family and other personal relationships (which are often harder to do). By doing this, you will be able to prioritise tasks more effectively and efficiently. And feel more capable and more able to do the things you genuinely say yes to.</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-thumbnail"><img decoding="async" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1488"/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:66.66%"> <p><strong><em>Prioritise proactively</em></strong>– in order to say “No” confidently you need to understand what is important to you. Define those things. Understand them and be clear about them. By doing so, you will find yourself saying “no” more often to ensure that you can pursue the things that are most important to you and to your job. As <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/the-prioritization-plan-that-brought-balance-to-my-work-and-home-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ester Banque puts it</a> – by learning to proactively prioritise she has learned to <em>“divide and conquer, making sure the right level of oversight or involvement is in place without the need for unproductive “face time.” We are also identifying non-negotiables at work and at home, managing the all-important expectations”.</em> And managing expectations is key in prioritising your work-life and home-life. Again, when you are clear on what is most important, you will know exactly where to focus your energy.</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-4 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-thumbnail"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/4-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1489"/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:66.66%"> <p><strong><em>Never compromise your integrity</em></strong>– as <a href="https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/stop-saying-yes-when-you-want-to-say-no/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lolly Daskal puts it </a> – <em>“Your integrity sets your standards and gives you a code of morality and ethics. Use it to guide you in saying no and you’ll always make consistent choices that are grounded in your beliefs”</em>. So ensure to keep your integrity in check – if you have to question your integrity or the morality of something, say no. Always.</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-5 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-thumbnail"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/5-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1490"/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:66.66%"> <p><strong><em>Deciding on whether it is really worth it</em>?</strong> – sometimes it is as simple as that. Maybe you find yourself in the position where you have committed to something but later find yourself doubting as to whether you can actually cope with the work. You may start to think of ways of getting out of the commitment. You may start to think up excuses, risking being caught out on a white lie. <em>Is it worth it?</em> The stress, the anguish and the doubt? Saying no outright may be the absolute best option. Remember – No is a perfectly acceptable answer. As Paulo Coelho said – <em>“If it costs you your peace, it is too expensive”. </em>So saying no should be easy.</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-6 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-thumbnail"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/6-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1491"/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:66.66%"> <p><strong><em>Realise that you will not please everyone</em></strong><em> – </em>this is a recipe for disaster, for stress, anguish and fear (of disappointing others and yourself). By saying no, you may be afraid that your boss, your client, or your family will think less of you. Truth is – they won’t. Saying no actually ensures that you are promoting self-care and are ensuring that you always operate at your best. And that can only be respected.</p> </div> </div> <p>Simply put – you need to be able to protect yourself from burnout. You need to give yourself a break by giving yourself balance and by <em>being ok with saying no</em>. Understand your limits and realise that your own best interests are important too. Finding a balance between meeting your own needs and saying yes to others (and saying yes to work) should start by asking yourself – </p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p><em>“What are my needs?” </em></p><p><em>“How much of my time, energy and resources do I need to meet those needs?” </em></p><p><em>“What can I genuinely do for others?” </em></p><p><em>“How much can I take on?”</em></p><p><em>“How much of my time can I dedicate to others?” </em></p></blockquote> <p>Everyone will answer these questions differently. But the important thing is <em>to find the balance that works best for you.</em></p> <p>To gain clarity and control over your life (and your work) may include seeking guidance from a trained professional who can guide you as you navigate saying “No” (it sometimes takes practice). Get in touch with <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/my-story/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frieda Levycky</a> of <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/contact-me/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Braving Boundaries</a> for a consult on getting your priorities on track. </p> <p>To close off and to illustrate the importance of <em>saying no</em> we turn to the quote by James Altucher from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17977529-choose-yourself" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Choose yourself</a> – </p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p><em>“Every time you say yes to something you don’t want to do, this will happen: you will resent people, you will do a bad job, you will have less energy for the things you were doing a good job on, you will make less money, and yet another small percentage of your life will be used up, burned up, a smoke signal to the future saying, “I did it again.”</em></p></blockquote> <p>Don’t risk “doing it again”. Change the cycle. Change the narrative and learn that <em>setting boundaries, managing expectations and saying no is perfectly fine. </em></p> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/book-a-call/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="810" height="450" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/End-of-blog-post-CTA-image.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3291"/></a></figure> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/> <div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:15%"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://bravingboundaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Alicia-Koch-The-Legal-Belletrist-1024x1024-1.jpg" alt=""/></figure> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:85%"> <p>About the writer, <strong><em>Alicia Koch, Founder of The Legal Belletrist.</em></strong></p> <p>Alicia, an admitted attorney with over 10 years PQE, and now a legal writer and researcher, has established The Legal Belletrist to assist companies (in different sectors) to write well-researched articles that speak to each company’s core business, enabling growth and commercialism. </p> <p>Click here to visit <a href="https://www.thelegalbelletrist.com/">The Legal Belletrist website</a>.</p> <p><strong>Email: <a href="mailto:alicia@thebelletrist.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alicia@thebelletrist.com</a> </strong></p> </div> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com/saying-yes-when-you-should-be-saying-no/">Saying “Yes” when you should be saying “No”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bravingboundaries.com">Braving Boundaries</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bravingboundaries.com/saying-yes-when-you-should-be-saying-no/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>