Cover picture from growingleaders.com
We all want to help other people, we like to be problem solvers, we want to be in the spotlight, no seems like a barrier
To start with a well-known geek joke[1], "there are 10 types of people in the world", those who can say no and those who can not.
No(!), I'm actually talking about those situations where you know you should say no, but you don't. And this happens from different reasons, which are perfectly reasonable: you don't want to let someone down, you want to be helpful, you are afraid or who knows what else[1].
Just do yourself a favour and if you recognize a situation like this, standup for yourself. Saying yes just for the sake of saying yes will not enable you to do wonders and while it might make you look good for a while, all this will pale when you fail to deliver.
And you don't help only yourself! Whoever asked you for something is counting on you to do it, because you agreed on it. Help him as well by not creating false expectations. He will appreciate you more because he can count on you to give him a straight answer.