I used to share everything about my life with everyone. I was an oversharer in some respects. I regularly posted about good times and updates in my life on social media for years. But then it very much harmed me as I had a number of “mean girls” in my life who were rooting for me to fail behind the scenes and using everything I said and did against me.

If only I had been more private then. I wish I had kept things more to myself or at least had better intuition on who to trust with private information.

So now I am much more careful with what and to whom I divulge information. And I’ve learned a few tricks on how to sidestep invasive questions in this area.

Here are some ideas on what to say to others when you don’t want to say anything about what’s going on in your life.

Remember, being private is powerful. You can share as much or as little as you want. It’s nice to keep people guessing sometimes too.

  • “I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but when I am I will let you know”
  • “There’s a lot for me to work through here, so I’m still processing things.”
  • “I’ve shared as much as I feel comfortable sharing.”
  • “I’m not comfortable saying anything further at this point.”
  • “As soon as there is more to tell, I promise I will let you know.”
  • “Thanks for noticing. I am not ready to go into more detail now.”
  • “For right now, I need to keep this to myself.”
  • “There’s nothing really to report right now.”

What else would you add to the list?