These are horrible recommendations. The article is telling you to lead people to believe you'll say yes - and when you ultimately never do - they'll hate you m

These are horrible recommendations. The article is telling you to lead people to believe you'll say yes - and when you ultimately never do - they'll hate you more for it. Or, you're simply creating more work on yourself because you're having to constantly come up with yet another excuse to kick the can down the road. If the answer is "no", just say no. People will appreciate it more than above because you're respecting them and their time.