How to Say No...and Live to Tell about It: A Woman's Guide to Guilt-Free Decisions

With manipulation on the rise, this is a timely book for the Body of Christ to have. Regardless of your sex, even though it appears to be geared to women, men could also benefit from the information contained therein. Although women are viewed as weaker vessels, this only means that men are also weak, but in mind, sometimes men are weaker. Saying yes constantly seems to rob people of their lives. And those who sabotage plans to get their way, will have to answer to God for interferring with His plans for the person they are disrupting. At the same time, that person needs God's strength to say yes to the right things, and no to those things which are not priorities that interfere with their lives. This is a must read for everyone. I believe that this book will help everyone get on and stay on track with their lives. Outstanding!

How to Say No and Live to Tell About It by Mary M. Byers is a practical guide for busy women. If you lack assertiveness, and have trouble prioritizing your commitments, this book may be for you. Byers writes from her own experiences as a busy woman, offering advice and inspiration to get through the day. Extremely short chapters make reading this thin volume a breeze--a must for the busy women Byers is writing for. Surely Byers, who is a professional speaker and freelance writer, uses some of her own tips to manage her packed schedule. The one downfall of How to Say No and Live to Tell About It is the way Byers uses Bible verses. She quoted a few verses completely out of context and used others to apply to different topics than they were originally meant to reference. It is almost as if Byers wrote a useful book on time management, and then decided she wanted to market it to a Christian audience as an afterthought, interspersing the Bible verses later. Despite this issue, How to Say No and Live to Tell About It makes the daunting tasks of time management and assertiveness development seem easy for even the busiest of women. Bible verses that apply to the topic at hand in the correct context would make this book more worthwhile.[...]

Lately, I've been looking for ways to be more joyful. One of the things that can steal our joy is being too busy doing things that we really don't want to do, according to Mary Byers' new book. She encourages readers to look at why they have trouble saying no, and begin to say it, "rather than letting a sense of obligation dictate your life." This is a very practical book with extremely short, to the point chapters-great for people who are too busy to read. Each chapter ends with a "taking action" step and "discovery questions" to help you apply the lessons of each chapter, which cover important topics like passion, simplicity, focus, guilt, fatigue. For those who have trouble saying that little word that brings back sanity and joy in your life: "no," this book will be a life-saver. But the idea is not necessarily to say no to everything, but to determine your passion, your focus and what brings you joy, and say yes to that! She writes, "When you apply focus to your passion and priorities, you'll not only be more effective, but you'll find contentment and inner joy as well." This is a practical book that's easy to read, but really pushes you to apply what you learn. if you have trouble saying no, say yes to picking up a copy of this book and reading it!

This book struck a nerve or two. Often, as I read it, I felt like Mary was talking directly to me. And she made it easy to listen! She wasn't condemning me ... she was relating to me. She's been there, done that, and offers practical advice to those of us who may struggle with saying no or yes to the appropriate opportunities. It won't happen over night, I'm sure, but I'm working on creating my very own "noasis." I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to better manage their time and gifts, answer God's call and feel confident about their decisions. Proud to be a "no-queen" in training!

Mary Byers offers practical time-tested strategies on how to survive saying "no" when an opportunity doesn't meet your personal or professional priority lists. Often, overbooked people become "yes-a-holics" becuase they worry if they don't say yes, they won't be well-regarded by others. This book provides excellent tips on exactly how to say "no" to have the effect you need in a variety of circumstances. The author admits that "no" is a powerful word with the ability to "hurt, disappoint, and frustrate." Or, no can have the ability to "protect, simplify, and clarify." She makes it an easy choice.