Assertiveness: An Essential Life Skill

Introduction

Being assertive is a skill that comes very easy to some, but seems almost impossible to others. Assertiveness is a trait that exudes confidence and shows that you stick to your guns, so to speak. Working to improve this skill can help improve your professional life, while also helping you better express and stick to your beliefs.

In this article, we’ll explain what it means to be assertive, why you might want to be more assertive, and how you can work to be more assertive.

What does it mean to be assertive

Being assertive means that, without ignoring the potential feelings of sensitivities of others, you express your beliefs, views, needs, opinions, and feelings; you don’t let others walk over your views or opinions. It means you speak your mind in professional and social situations, alike.

There are many reasons why you might want to work on being more assertive and we’ll explore them more in the next section.

Why might you want to be more assertive

Assertiveness is an admirable trait in a wide variety of situations, but most commonly in a job interview. Showing respectful assertiveness can show your potential employer that you stick to your values and opinions; this shows them that you’re a strong person with leadership skills and that you’re likely to enforce their policies.

Being assertive can also help improve your personal life. By sticking to your guns and standing for what you believe in, you’re ensuring that those whose company you choose to keep value the things you value.

What can you do to be more assertive

It can be challenging to find the happy medium of assertiveness; too assertive and you come off as arrogant, rude, or overbearing; not assertive enough and you get walked all over. There’s a few steps that can help with this process:

Be yourself when building new relationships: Be more forthcoming about your beliefs, opinions, and viewpoints when building new relationships and stick up for what you believe in.

Set realistic goals: The only way to successfully achieve a change in your behavior is to set achievable and realistic goals. Set your goals to high and you’re likely to give up, but set them too low and it’ll take too long for you to make progress.

Monitor your assertiveness: Watch what you’re saying when trying to be assertive; it’s all about the balance of not being overly assertive and not being assertive enough. Pay close attention to what you say and the reaction it invokes in the person to whom you’re speaking and make adjustments when necessary.

Know when to stop and when to push it: It can be a problem to be overly assertive, but if you’re observant and paying attention, you can catch it before it becomes problematic. Watch how the person you’re speaking with reacts to what you’re saying and judge or make adjustments accordingly.

There are several other ways to strengthen your assertiveness, but these few we focused on today will help you along the right path.

Being assertive is a skill and behavioral trait that can be strengthened and practiced to better the person. It comes easy to some to be assertive in all conversations, but others struggle with it.

Conclusion

Being more assertive can help to improve your professional life by helping you make a good first impression in an interview and seem like a valuable employee, while also showing that you stick to your guns. It can also help to improve your personal life, as it can ensure that you’re surrounded by good, like-minded friends that won’t walk all over your views and opinions.