People Who Always Say No

ProTip: Don’t listen to people who tell you no.

I’m always stuck in these weird little cracks in the system because of the unusual lifestyle I lead. People are constantly telling me no, no, no… Over the last couple of years I’ve been location independent and that invariably means I don’t fit into the little check boxes bureaucrats love so dearly. It’s frustrating at first but you really just need to figure out how to handle it.

There is always someone who wants to tell you no. No that’s not possible, no we don’t offer that service, no that’s not how it’s done.

It goes like this:

“No we don’t offer that service and you can’t do that.”
“Oh wait my supervisor said that yes in fact we do offer that service but you have to pay extra.”
“Oh wait in fact you don’t have to pay extra.”
“So yes you can do that.”

Whenever you’re trying to do something unusual people will tell you that it’s not possible for a number of reasons.

Sometimes they’re just covering their asses and don’t want to get in trouble for doing something unusual. Yes that’s right get in trouble! They feel like they’re in grade school and their bosses will slap them on the wrist for doing something wrong.

The default position of some people is no. They just have a fundamentally different world view. Fall in line, do as your told, don’t rock the boat… No, no, no, no….

Often they’ll say no because they don’t want to acknowledge that you may in fact know more about the current situation than they do. Another reason people will say no is because they have an agenda. Case in point, any salesman that works on commission. A common excuse people go negative is “that’s just not the way it’s done.” If it’s not the status quo it can’t be done! When you’re doing something unusual it freaks people out and their first reaction is to just tell you NO.

The trick with all these types of problems is to think creatively and be polite. Kill them with kindness and know your stuff. If that doesn’t work just be such a pain in the ass that it’s easier to just let you do what you’re trying to do than to keep saying no.

Whatever the case, don’t take no for an answer if what you’re trying to do is important to you. To find your solution be polite, persistent, knowledgeable and creative.