In this episode, I invite you to think about your boundaries for what you are willing to do and how you are prepared to be treated.

Here’s how to tell if you need to get better at setting boundaries:

• you are frequently ‘dumped in it’ last thing on a Friday evening or over a weekend
• you are frequently given tasks you are overqualified for
• you are constantly ‘on’ – checking your email late into the night and all weekend
• you are in a relationship (professional or personal) where you are not treated equally

Knowing how to set boundaries is fundamental to your success and your sanity as a working parent – both at home and in the office. Without them, you will have no control over what you do and how you work, and there is a real risk you’ll be taken advantage of.

So how do you change this? How do you start being more assertive about what you will or will not do? In a nutshell, here’s what you can do:

1. Check your beliefs about saying no – if you avoid saying no because you are worried about damaging your career or your relationship look around you for evidence that this is just a belief, not a fact, and it’s a belief that is not serving you. To challenge this belief, consider: who do I know who is assertive and successful? who still managed to get ahead?
2. Have a range of alternative responses you can use when you don’t want to say a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Here are three responses that work for me:

• the conditional yes
• the helpful no
• the strategic no

Tune in to the podcast to learn more.