Elle Vampa

This week I’ve done the unimaginable.

I said NO. Twice.

Yesterday was The Day for No No.1 (see what I did there? I’m so clever 😉).

Despite all the doom scenarios that had been brooding and multiplying in my head over the past week, the final result was completely unexpected when I told my client I am quitting cleaning. For real.

Although she was surprised, her response was one of empathy. She even confessed she’d been in touch with several cleaning services to investigate other options.

Yay! There went a little weight off my shoulder. *POOF* Just like that.

Convinced not all my “no-pitches” would go down as smoothly, though, I decided to jam another massive one into this day. For in case things would get ugly, I’d only have ruined a mere 24 hours as opposed to an entire week in terms of potential self-esteem decimation.

Therefore, I climbed into the metaphorical pen and wrote a NO-email to a client.

The long and short of the backside story is this: I started coaching her in February. We never made it past session two. Whenever I tried to set up a new meeting she failed to show up. Whenever I tried to contact her she failed to reply.

After 6 months (!) of idle waiting AND an ultimatum set-and-not-met in September, I decided to end it with this client.

I spent the better part of an hour trying to come up with the nicest way to let this person down. Eventually I settled for the one thing nobody’s immune to: honesty.

I wrote what happened, how it made me feel, and what I’d decided. Along the way I added I understood her position, and how that helped me made up my mind even more so. I apologised for breaking things off, and left the door ajar by welcoming her to contact me again in the future.

Whoever said uttering those two letters out loud (or in print) was easy was a liar.

Because before I dared to actually send this email, I needed a mental boost.

Thank goodness one of my best friends is at home, avoiding a burn-out. She texted back within a minute and with the aid of her comforting and compassionate words, I was able to put this headache inducing situation to full closure.

Anxious for a furious reply, I did not dare check my emails again until this morning, when I discovered another flaw in my loser-thinking:

“Thank you for making this decision for me. I know it’s the right one, and I should have made it myself. If the time is better, I will find you. Until then, thank you for all your patience and understanding.”

Whoever said saying no was easy, was a liar.

But whoever made me believe nothing good comes from using the N and the O together, was an even bigger liar.

Two No’s down, one to go. And if the results keep up, maybe I should say it more often…