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“I don’t want to make a fuss” was pretty much my motto for a long time. Everyone thought I was “so sweet,” “so easy going,” and “so pleasant.” Those were words people would use to describe me. I didn’t want to disappoint them. I didn’t want to prove them wrong. And you know what you have to be in order to be considered sweet, pleasant, and laid-back? Quiet. You have to be quiet. In other words, you rarely get what you want. Look at the most successful and the happiest people you know. They probably aren’t quiet. Perhaps nobody would describe them as sweet. But the other truth is that they don’t care because they love their lives more than they cherish the approval of others. They do, by the way, still have the approval of others. The group that respects you just changes when you speak your mind. A lot changes, for the better.
You’ll respect your time more
You’ll no longer put up with people who tell you that they’ll meet with you, “Sometime between 1 and 4ish—I’ll let you know the day of.” You tell them that you need a specific time, as soon as possible, so you can plan your life. And as for individuals who constantly flake on you, you tell them how that has impacted you, and that if they want to keep a relationship with you, that behavior needs to stop. Now.
