Being independant and indifferent is something I picked up in the dating world and helped me in other areas of my life.
So whether or not someone says something negative, my reaction is the similar to it's polarity. Being independant is the key there too, when you don't need to rely on others. You don't need to think about it at all then, because your response will be the similar to if they said yes.
If I ask my friend help putting together a map and they say yes, my response would be something like, "Okay, thanks." Then go on to explain how we'll go about doing it. If they said no, my response would be something like, "Okay, thanks anyway." Then continue our conversation, or start one if we didn't have one going already.
Remember there's always alternatives to dependance. My life is fairly busy sometimes and I have to tell friends I can't help them, and you have to expect that they're going to have busy times too. Strive for independance. Instead of looking between positive and negative responses think of what else you could do by yourself to get the task done. If it's a task that needs teamwork, you can always ask someone else.
