The Yes That Almost Took Me Out

Dear Diary,

There’s a specific kind of silence that haunts you after saying “yes” and immediately regretting it. I closed my laptop, stared at the wall, and muttered to myself:

“What the hell did I just agree to?”

The client had asked if I worked in Kajabi.

And even though I had never even seen the Kajabi website before, my mouth said: “Of course! Happy to help.”

What followed was a week long hell into tech chaos.

Me vs. YouTube. Me vs. Graham Cochrane at 1.75x speed. Me vs. Kajabi automations that triggered emails at 2 am for reasons I still don’t fathom.

Reddit posts. Tutorial blogs. Prayer. Trial. Error. And magically somehow… I got it done.

The funnel worked. The emails were sent. The client was happy.

But behind the scenes? I was tired.

I barely ate. Barely slept. I was snapping at my friends and crying over integrations. I delivered what I promised, but at the cost of my sanity.

That experience taught me a brutal lesson: Just because you can pull it off… doesn’t mean you should.

Here’s what I learned, the hard way:

→ Say yes to growth, but not at the cost of your health

→ Learning is valuable, so charge for it

→ Every “yes” should move you forward, not weaken you

Now? If I’m not qualified yet, I’m honest. If I take it on, there’s a learning curve fee attached. And if it’s not aligned with my goals or my nervous system? It’s a no.

So, to my fellow VAs:

You don’t have to be everything to everyone.

You don’t have to fake your way into burnout.

You don’t have to over deliver just to feel worthy.

Be honest about your capacity.

Charge for it.

Bend but don’t break.

Current Mood: Peaceful. No more overcommitting for approval.

Peak of the Week: Sent a quote with a built in tech fee and felt zero guilt.

Glowing Gratitude: For every painful “yes” that taught me how to protect my “no.”

Until next time, I’ll be sipping red wine and letting aligned work find the real me, not the version pretending to know everything.

✌🏽❤️ — Monica