Standing up for yourself is not always the easiest thing to do in life. It is however, very important to stand up for yourself whether it’s at work, in a relationship, with friends or family and even as you travel the world.
Many people will always let others have their way just to maintain peace. You would rather walk away than escalate an argument or disagreement. While this may seem as the best option, making a habit of it may make people lose respect for you, manipulate you or push you around.
It’s important that you learn how to voice your opinions and thoughts without fear of intimidation. Not sure how you can do that? Read on for some quick tips.
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5 Tips for Standing Up for Oneself in Any Situation
1. Build your confidence
The first place to start when learning about standing up for oneself is to build your self confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself others won’t believe in you either. You have to be confident in yourself so that others can take you seriously.
Nothing tells that you mean business like self confidence. To be assertive you have to believe in yourself and what you stand for. If your self confidence is low people will notice it and they will see you as an easy target to tease or walk all over.
Self confidence comes from within. It starts by doing what makes you feel better about yourself. If you feel ashamed about your weight, start a workout program that will help you lose the extra weight. If you feel shy talking in public, take a public speaking class to boost your confidence.
You will not learn self confidence overnight but knowing what affects your confidence and doing something about it is a great way to get started. Your confidence will grow in due time.
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2. Have goals
Setting goals for yourself gives you something to look forward to. It gives you a sense of purpose and you feel some sense of self worth. Goals also help you to know what you truly want in life.
Having goals helps you to stand up for yourself whenever someone attacks your self worth. By knowing what you want, you also get to understand what you don’t want including people walking all over you.
Set a few achievable goals and work towards achieving them. These could be weekly, monthly or even yearly goals. It doesn’t have to be anything big just something that will motivate you and challenge you to be better.
3. Take care of yourself physically
The way we feel about our physical attractiveness will normally affect how assertive we are with others. If you feel unattractive, your self confidence will likely be very low and you will always have difficulty speaking up for yourself
While beauty is not the goal here, you have to love yourself no matter what shape, size or color you are. The way you feel about yourself will determine how others feel about your physical look.
Another way to improve your physical confidence is to learn how to protect yourself physically. Many of us especially women, are afraid to stand up to men for fear of a physical attack. Boosting your self defence abilities will give you more confidence.
Consider joining a martial arts or self-defense class. A lot of these classes will not only boost your physical strength but will also teach you how to be more confident, teach you discipline as well as how to be more assertive in any situation.
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4. Set boundaries
Having boundaries is another way of standing up for yourself. Boundaries are your core values and they show how much you value and respect yourself. Know your core values and be firm with the things you’re comfortable with and what you aren’t.
Don’t set boundaries after finding yourself in a difficult situation with someone. Instead, make them about you regardless of how you currently relate with people. Make them about you and not others.
5. A negative attitude makes standing up for oneself very difficult
The way you think about yourself will affect how others treat you. Standing up for oneself takes a positive attitude. Your attitude will determine how people perceive you.
Attitude is contagious and others will normally adopt your attitude when around you. If you’re bubbly and feel good about yourself, others will take cue from you. They will also feel bubbly and good about themselves and thus treat you well. If you’re always pessimistic you spread the negativity around you.
We are more inclined to want to be with people who make us feel good about ourselves. You are more likely to agree with the opinions of people who make you feel good. So practice a good attitude in your life too. This way you will command respect and make it easy for you to stand up for yourself.
Why is it important to be assertive?
Being assertive allows you to relate with people with more confidence. It allows you to protect yourself from bullies and people who want to treat you as if you are of no worth. Being assertive will also help you get what you want in life. Assertiveness allows you to express your wants, needs and preferences in a way that makes others listen to you. By expressing yourself well people take you seriously and leaves them with no option but to hear you out and address your needs or concerns.
Standing up for yourself is a skill that many of us overlook thinking that it’s something that cannot be learned. However, it’s something that you can actually learn and improve the quality of your life.
The secret is to recognise your point of weakness and work towards turning that into a strength. You must always strive to stand up for yourself if you want people to respect you and treat you well.
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