More on that 2-letter word ‘no’ this week. Whilst it can be phenomenally challenging to say ‘no’ to others, it can be even harder to receive a ‘no’.

Sometimes it feels like a door closing, at other times a wet fish being slapped in your face and occasionally a full-on body blow that requires quite some time to shake off.

I can recall the many devastating times when I have received a ‘no’. I’ve had a ‘no’ you can’t work here. I’ve had a ‘no’, you can’t have that promotion. And I’ve had a lot of ‘no’ we don’t want YOU. Ouch.

Unfortunately, we cannot fight our biology. Feelings are our first response. We will feel what we feel.

Fortunately, however, we are entirely free to choose our own thoughts.

Whenever I have received a ‘no’, I’ve simply seen it as a signpost, and I’ve asked myself: ‘Where next?’ or ‘What now?’

A ‘no’ doesn’t need to be a roadblock. It just depends on how you want to think about it.