What does it mean to be assertive?
Being assertive means being able to stand up for your own or other people’s rights in a calm and positive way, without being either aggressive, or passively accepting ‘wrong’. Assertive individuals are able to get their point across without upsetting others, or becoming upset themselves. Although everyone acts in passive and aggressive ways from time to time, such ways of responding often result from a lack of self-confidence and are, therefore, inappropriate ways of interacting with others. Assertiveness is the midpoint between being passive (which is always saying “yes” or people-pleasing) and being aggressive (which is yelling and slamming things to get our way).
Those who behave assertively always respect the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of other people as well as their own.
Assertiveness concerns being able to express feelings, wishes, wants and desires appropriately and is an important personal and interpersonal skill. In all your interactions with other people, whether at home or at work, with employers, customers or colleagues, assertiveness can help you to express yourself in a clear, open and reasonable way, without undermining your own or others’ rights.
Assertiveness enables individuals to act in their own best interests, to stand up for themselves without undue anxiety, to express honest feelings comfortably and to express personal rights without denying the rights of others.
For more easy steps on learning how to become assertive, please click the link below. Part of learning how to communicate our needs/wants is to learn how to communicate them respectfully but clearly. That means we have to do our own work to find out what we want and don’t want, need or don’t need. Boundaries are an important part of assertiveness as it allows people to know what we will and won’t tolerate.
https://www.verywellmind.com/learn-assertive-communication-in-five-simple-steps-3144969