The Importance of Being Assertive // Peace Academy Curriculum
The Importance of Being Assertive
Being assertive is a sign of strong, healthy boundaries.
When you assert yourself, you are defining your boundaries.
Assertiveness is not aggressiveness.
Assertiveness is defining your boundaries while staying within them, while aggressiveness is crossing over into another's boundaries when trying to assert yourself.
Being assertive involves the use of “I” statements which is one of the methods of conflict resolution.
The use of “I” statements is a way to state your wants and needs from the perspective of owning your feelings as opposed to using “you” statements which can come across as aggressive and blaming.
The latter usually just leads to defensiveness and a lack of peaceful resolution.
Assertiveness can be quite difficult for people who are uncomfortable with conflict as it usually involves some amount of tension and not giving in to what the other person wants.
Using conflict resolution methods can help guide you through this process.
A lack of assertiveness and healthy boundaries can lead to a victim mentality and a feeling of often getting stepped on in life. We're fond of the phrase victims are violent, and would warn against victim mentality while trying to come to peaceful resolution.
You must be able to state your needs and be able to say NO when necessary.
Avoiding situations or people because you are avoiding conflict and assertiveness can leave you with a feeling of unsettled stress that will remain until the situation is resolved.
I think below is impressive to me.
Sometimes I was confused between assertiveness and aggressiveness.
Thank you for your sharing.
This post is so on point for a series of events that just unfolded in my life. Awesome timing!
Here I would also recommend the book Non violent communication (Rosenberg)- it teaches how to get in touch with those "I" statements to really center our own experience and not attack the other person.
In the end, much of it comes down to taking responsibility for what shows up in our lives and for speaking our needs..
People can't know our needs/wants unless we express them, and clearly at that!
Great post.
Being assertive is such a great quality. Makes you confident and make decisions promptly. Similar to my post I just did on You Need Conviction to be Successful
Great post @aggroed!
Nice post aggroed, I can't wait for your next radio show. This is a great post to get people to assert them self in the steemit platform. Recently I joined the msp channel two weeks ago and it was amazing, all the great radio host and the behind scenes community. Last night I met one of my favorite radio host globo. This wouldn't be possible without your post you made. Thank you my friend hope to see you around often @aggroed ...
I fully support your post and your thoughts that you set forth ... methods of conflict resolution are very relevant to many in our time, and indeed, in general, I personally believe that you need to be assertive and stand on your own, because people see what you will and will respect you. But if you become soft and helpful people will use it .. thanks for the smart information
Exactly, your are doing great as one of the PAL holder's sir @aggroed
Keep it up my support is always at PAL family..
More Power and God Bless..
You made me look in my dictionary about the meaning of assertive haha. English is not my first language and by reading your post I fully I understand the meaning of this word. I am going to achieved my goal because I know I can do it no matter comes on my way.
Well written post. Assertiveness is not easy for some folks. Self esteem or the lack thereof gets in the way. You also differentiate it from aggression. Good info that all should take time to learn. Thanks.
Outstanding post! Thank you for sharing! Such an eye opener. Many times I found myself to be overly passive. I am going to try to be more assertive. Thanks again! :)
That was a great explanation of assertivenes vs aggression. Now I can better explain the differences to my son. Thanks @aggroed.