In this episode of WORDS MATTER, Deanna Ley, The Catalytic Coach, explores five simple words that carry massive weight: “NO is a complete sentence.” Often credited to Anne Lamott and echoed by countless women over the years, this quote holds the power to shift your boundaries, your energy, and your peace.
Deanna shares her own journey from people-pleasing and overcommitting to finding a deeper connection with herself—one NO at a time. If you’ve ever said YES when you meant NO, this episode is your invitation to pause and re-evaluate. Not out of guilt. But out of presence, power, and self-trust.
What Listeners Will Learn:
• Why every dishonest YES is a quiet NO to yourself
• How people-pleasing starts early—and how to break the cycle
• The difference between saying NO to build walls vs. saying NO to build self-respect
• Why honoring your capacity is a radical form of self-care
• How to start building self-trust through small, honest choices
• A weekly challenge to practice one grounded NO
Memorable Quotes:
• “NO is a complete sentence.”
• “Every YES that isn't honest is a quiet NO to yourself.”
• “Saying YES when you actually mean NO isn’t kindness – it’s conditioning.”
• “You don’t have to wrap your NO in guilt, apologies, or justifications.”
• “Your YESes mean more when they are grounded in YOU.”
• “NO is not a rejection. It’s a declaration.”
This episode is an empowering reminder that protecting your peace doesn’t require permission or explanation. It requires presence, practice, and a deep belief that your time and energy are worth protecting.
Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.
❤️❤️❤️
Text Deanna! She'd love to hear from you!
❤️❤️❤️
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going!
Follow Deanna on social media for frequent insights and inspiration, and share your favorite takeaways from this episode on social media. Tag her! She’d love to hear your thoughts.
Facebook: https://Facebook.com/TheCatalyticCoach
Instagram: https://Instagram.com/TheCatalyticCoach
Subscribe to the WORDS MATTER by Deanna Ley podcast so you never miss an episode at:
https://wordsmatterwithdeannaley.buzzsprout.com
For more inspiration, coaching, and tools to ignite your Possible, visit:
https://DeannaLey.com
Deanna's book - ROOTED: Your 30-Day Journey Toward Whole-Self Health - is now available! You can order it at https://deannaley.com/chooserooted
For ladies who want to join Deanna's CORE4 Community, visit:
http://CORE4community.com
Ready to take the next step? Explore Deanna’s coaching programs and resources designed to help you RISE and IGNITE YOUR POSSIBLE at:
http://TheCatalyticCoach.com
Contact Deanna to have her speak to your group at:
...
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.