Assertiveness is an important skill that each and every one of us should have. It can be a game changer for anyone’s career and it also improves relationships outside of the office.
Before finding out how to be assertive, we need to first look at some of the factors of why some of us are not assertive. There are many factors for this, but we’ll look at the most common of these. If you want to learn everything about how to be assertive, it would be best to join the Assertiveness and Self-Confidence Training Course of PD Training in Singapore.
Factors that Negatively Impact Assertiveness
Stress
Stress is a big factor because it makes a person vulnerable. When a person is stressed, he/she may resort to aggression or avoidance.
Beliefs
A person’s beliefs play a large part in sabotaging his/her assertiveness. This might stem from how you were raised or what you were made to believe when you were growing up. Once you keep thinking of negative thoughts, you start to believe them, even when they are not true. It also makes you start doubting yourself. It is always important to be aware of your beliefs so you can address them as quickly as possible.
Low Self-Esteem
A person with low self-esteem may feel like he/she does not belong, and may not be able to speak up even when he/she has a good point. This may come from fear of conflict, the possibility of losing a relationship, criticism or rejection from colleagues and family.
With some of these factors covered, it’s time to see how we can address them so we can become a more assertive person.
Tips to Follow to Improve Assertiveness
Learn to Say No
Saying no isn’t a bad thing. We often feel guilty saying no because we think it’s selfish but, in fact, it’s not. Saying no helps us to maintain a healthy relationship that isn’t abused.
Don’t Feel Guilty
When you’ve been so used to saying yes all the time, you’ll probably feel uncomfortable being assertive the first couple of times and you may even feel guilty about it. Try to not feel uncomfortable, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about anything.
Express Yourself
We can’t expect people to automatically know what we need. We need to be able to tell them and to express ourselves. When telling them, we need to be clear, honest, respectful and specific. An example of this could be when we are ordering food from a restaurant. When we order food, we are specific about what we want to eat. We don’t just say chicken, pork or beef. We tell the server exactly what we want such as fried chicken, grilled pork chops or beef stew.
When we’re specific, we get exactly what we ask for. This is also how we should be when we’re expressing ourselves to others. But we also have to be careful with what we say. We should always focus on the real issue when we express ourselves and not trivial details.
There is much more that you can learn when you join PD Training in Singapore and it should be a priority for you to improve yourself because this is how we can reach our personal goals and achieve real success.
PD Training delivers thousands of professional development courses each year in Singapore so you can be assured your training will be delivered by a qualified and experienced trainer.
All public Assertiveness & Self Confidence Training courses include am/pm tea, lunch, printed courseware and a certificate of completion. Customised courses are available upon request so please contact pdtraining at [email protected] to learn more.