Areas › Yourself and your limits
Yourself and your limits
Saying no, asking for something, and holding a line are skills, not personality. So is speaking to yourself the way you would speak to someone you love.
What works for this
Compassion focused therapy
Self esteem is the problem rather than the goal, because it needs a favourable verdict on you and therefore needs somebody to lose. Self compassion is the replacement, and it does not require you to come out ahead of anybody.
One move, today
Say to yourself what you would say to a friend in the same position, in the same tone. If that sounds indulgent, notice that you do not think so when it is them.
What matches
2 practicesBe firm and warm at once: gentle tone, steady eyes, clear ask. Neither doormat nor bulldozer.
Softness of manner and firmness of content are not opposites. Hold the point kindly.
Ask plainly: name the facts, say how you feel, say what you want, in a few clear sentences.
Drop the hinting. State the situation, your feeling, and the request. Clear is kind.
