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Pat Walls

How to say no. - Templates to help you say no in any situation

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Saying no is hard, but essential to your own productivity (and sanity). Here are some templates you can use, including some examples from Naval, Tim Ferriss, Casey Neistat, and more!

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Pat Walls
Maker
Hey everyone - I've been trying to say "no" more often. For example... - How to say no to "coffee" - How to say no to extra projects - How to say no to unnecessary meetings - the list goes on... I put together this little "mini-site" of alllll the different situations where you might want to say "no", as well as some pretty neat templates from Naval, Tim Ferriss, Paul Graham, Casey Neistat, etc. I hope it inspires you to say no! (you can also download the templates into Pigeon (my Gmail plugin) for easy use - but that is completely optional!)
Pat Walls
Maker
@mikerubini Haha! Congrats on your launch looks great :)
Raman Ksaitor
@thepatwalls my personal favorite "How to say no to an appearance on a brand new podcast." More useful than the others!
Pat Walls
Maker
@ksaitor I use that one all the time.
Dakota Felder
Does what the DARE program never could
Pat Walls
Maker
@dakota_felder Haha! next project "howtosaynotodrugs.com" !!
Edgaras
Nice. Radical Candor :)
Pat Walls
Maker
@edgarascom Exactly!
Primer
@edgarascom Well... except it isn't radical candor. I just read all of them and most of them reek of BS. "I'd love to do that thing, but...." No - if you'd love to do it, you'd do it.
Edgaras
@mickc79 I think you should have quoted what's after "but...". Because those are important conditions.
Primer
@edgarascom Well the point is that it doesn't matter what comes after the point. If you'd love to do something, then you'd do it. Clearly this person wouldn't love to do it. Please google "everything after the word but". This is a well known thing.
Anthony Dike 🌻🐝
I like it. Good job compiling it all 👏
Pat Walls
Maker
@antdke Thanks Anthony! Trying to find more famous people examples so if you find anymore let me know so I can add!
Marc Montagne
Literally every single day I'm facing those situation and wished I could have these templates. A big THANK YOU!
Pat Walls
Maker
@marcaime glad it can help, even just a littel! although saying no is easier said than done! And it's a lot easier over email than in person :)
Vincent Denise
Hi Pat! It's definitely something we need to save time with our support. Request: Some templates for how to say no to VCs.
Pat Walls
Maker
@yesnoornext Added!! Great tip keep em coming :)
Emelie Klasson
This is really great. Being Swedish, this is definitely something I could have use for in many situations. Well done! :)
Pat Walls
Maker
@emelie Thanks Emilie, is it harder to say "no" as a Swede? :P
Emelie Klasson
@thepatwalls haha, I think we're being known for not being very straight forward. Which quite often puts us in awkward situations.
Andrey Azimov
Waiting next how to say yes :D
Pat Walls
Maker
@andreyazimov "How to do things that don't scale."
Anna Filou
I love this way more than I expected! 😍 Would be awesome if you could add more templates in time. But who dumps someone they’re dating over email, of all things? 😂
Pat Walls
Maker
@anna_0x Hahaha that's rock bottom right there.
Oleg Stirbu
This is great! thanks for making it.
Pat Walls
Maker
@ostirbu Thanks Oleg!!
Kareem Al Saady
@thepatwalls this is amazing! It's my go to reference now for these types of emails.
Pat Walls
Maker
@kareem_alsaady Thanks Kareem! Awesome to hear you keep referencing it - I have been too!
Miguel Piedrafita
Great work Pat, I'll definitely make use of this!
Pat Walls
Maker
@m1guelpf Thanks Miguel!
Vijay Selvaraju
Thanks for sharing this Pat! It's a great collection
Pat Walls
Maker
@vijay_selvaraju Thanks Vijay! If you have any more, let me know!
Dominique Jackson
Brilliant haha. Nice job Pat!
Pat Walls
Maker
@djthewriter Haha thanks my man! Maybe you find a way to include this in one of your blog posts one day.... jk jk
Harry Dry
Great idea. Great execution.
Pat Walls
Maker
@harrydry My man! Your early feedback was the icing.
Joe Wilson
Awesome work @thepatwalls. It's always hard to say no, but this should help people over the hump.
Pat Walls
Maker
@airbnbforsurfboards It is easier said than done, that's for sure! Hopefully this helps people say "no" a bit more. Even a little helps :)
Switchbackhunter
I rarely comment on PH listings, but this one hit home. So useful for folks like myself that have a hard time trying to say the right thing once, without having to come up with many excuses.
Pat Walls
Maker
@daminkk Thank you for the kind words! Means a lot. Excuses are easy. Being direct is hard - as a recipient/receiver I'd rather you be direct than give me an excuse like "i'm so busy right now sorry!".
Adam Fuhrer
All in good balance with saying "yes" ;)
Pura Vida
Oh man, most definitely going to use this, thank you!
Pat Walls
Maker
@puravida Love to hear that. Hope it helps you say "no" today.
Nathan Grieve
It's so awkward to say no to things - so niche but ridiculously useful!