How to Stand up for Yourself
Have confidence., Set goals for yourself., Develop a good attitude., Stop viewing yourself as a victim., Feel good about yourself physically.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Have confidence.
Developing a strong sense of self-confidence is the first step towards standing up for yourself.
If you don't have any confidence or belief in yourself, how can you expect other people to? It's easy for others to spot when someone is down on their luck and lacking in self-confidence
-- which makes them an easy target.
If you're confident, people will be less likely to tease you or identify you as weak.
Confidence has to come from within, so do whatever it takes to make you feel better about yourself.
Learn a new skill, lose some weight, repeat positive affirmations daily
-- nothing will change overnight, but your confidence will grow in time. -
Step 2: Set goals for yourself.
Goals give you a sense of purpose and control over your own destiny, and they help you realize what you truly want.
This is an essential part of standing up for yourself and preventing others from walking all over you.
Motivate yourself by setting an ambitious but achievable goal over the next few weeks, months or years of your life.
It could be anything
-- a promotion at work, a top grade in your next college paper, or running a half-marathon
-- as long as it's something that gives you a sense of self-worth.
When you finally achieve your goals, remember to take a moment to look back on how far you've come and appreciate how much you have achieved.
Make a vow that you will never let yourself regress into the unfulfilled person you once were. , Your attitude is everything
-- it impacts how other people perceive you and even how you see yourself.
Your attitude sets the tone of your voice, the quality of your thoughts, and is reflected in your facial expressions and body language.Remember that attitude is infectious.
If you're bubbly, happy, and bright about things, you'll encourage those around you to feel good about themselves and the world around them.
If you're morose, pessimistic, and down about everything, you'll soon infect others with the same negativity.
We naturally prefer to be hanging around the person who makes us feel good about ourselves, and we're more inclined to listen and respond positively to someone who has a good attitude.
By the same token, we're more likely to dismiss a person who tries to play the shrinking violet, the victim, or the permanently oppressed.
Make the choice to feel and have a positive attitude and you're on your way to standing up for yourself. , When you behave as a victim, you do the very opposite of standing up for yourself.
Instead, you tend to shrink away from the responsibility of a situation and blame your problems on someone else.
For many people, an inability to stand up for oneself is rooted in the fear of being rejected or laughed at, as a result of similar negative experiences in the past.
By choosing to take these negative experiences personally and retreating into your shell, you stop standing up for yourself and start playing the victim.
If you've had negative experiences in the past, the best thing to do is to try to talk through these experiences with someone you trust.
This will help you to figure out the root cause behind your victim mentality and allow you to work past it, rather than hiding behind it. , While you don't need to look like iron man or iron woman, your appearance does matter and looking fit, strong and healthy will give you greater confidence and help you to stand up for yourself.
Choose an activity that you enjoy doing
-- whether it's weight training, running, dancing or rock climbing
-- and throw yourself into it.
Not only will you look and feel better physically, you'll also have lots of fun and become a more interesting, fulfilled person in the process! You should also consider starting a martial arts or self-defense class.
The inner discipline taught will improve your confidence a great deal and the moves you'll learn to defend yourself will double your confidence and allow you to stand up for yourself should you ever find yourself in a physical fight. -
Step 3: Develop a good attitude.
-
Step 4: Stop viewing yourself as a victim.
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Step 5: Feel good about yourself physically.
Detailed Guide
Developing a strong sense of self-confidence is the first step towards standing up for yourself.
If you don't have any confidence or belief in yourself, how can you expect other people to? It's easy for others to spot when someone is down on their luck and lacking in self-confidence
-- which makes them an easy target.
If you're confident, people will be less likely to tease you or identify you as weak.
Confidence has to come from within, so do whatever it takes to make you feel better about yourself.
Learn a new skill, lose some weight, repeat positive affirmations daily
-- nothing will change overnight, but your confidence will grow in time.
Goals give you a sense of purpose and control over your own destiny, and they help you realize what you truly want.
This is an essential part of standing up for yourself and preventing others from walking all over you.
Motivate yourself by setting an ambitious but achievable goal over the next few weeks, months or years of your life.
It could be anything
-- a promotion at work, a top grade in your next college paper, or running a half-marathon
-- as long as it's something that gives you a sense of self-worth.
When you finally achieve your goals, remember to take a moment to look back on how far you've come and appreciate how much you have achieved.
Make a vow that you will never let yourself regress into the unfulfilled person you once were. , Your attitude is everything
-- it impacts how other people perceive you and even how you see yourself.
Your attitude sets the tone of your voice, the quality of your thoughts, and is reflected in your facial expressions and body language.Remember that attitude is infectious.
If you're bubbly, happy, and bright about things, you'll encourage those around you to feel good about themselves and the world around them.
If you're morose, pessimistic, and down about everything, you'll soon infect others with the same negativity.
We naturally prefer to be hanging around the person who makes us feel good about ourselves, and we're more inclined to listen and respond positively to someone who has a good attitude.
By the same token, we're more likely to dismiss a person who tries to play the shrinking violet, the victim, or the permanently oppressed.
Make the choice to feel and have a positive attitude and you're on your way to standing up for yourself. , When you behave as a victim, you do the very opposite of standing up for yourself.
Instead, you tend to shrink away from the responsibility of a situation and blame your problems on someone else.
For many people, an inability to stand up for oneself is rooted in the fear of being rejected or laughed at, as a result of similar negative experiences in the past.
By choosing to take these negative experiences personally and retreating into your shell, you stop standing up for yourself and start playing the victim.
If you've had negative experiences in the past, the best thing to do is to try to talk through these experiences with someone you trust.
This will help you to figure out the root cause behind your victim mentality and allow you to work past it, rather than hiding behind it. , While you don't need to look like iron man or iron woman, your appearance does matter and looking fit, strong and healthy will give you greater confidence and help you to stand up for yourself.
Choose an activity that you enjoy doing
-- whether it's weight training, running, dancing or rock climbing
-- and throw yourself into it.
Not only will you look and feel better physically, you'll also have lots of fun and become a more interesting, fulfilled person in the process! You should also consider starting a martial arts or self-defense class.
The inner discipline taught will improve your confidence a great deal and the moves you'll learn to defend yourself will double your confidence and allow you to stand up for yourself should you ever find yourself in a physical fight.
About the Author
Charles Cole
Committed to making practical skills accessible and understandable for everyone.
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