3 Reasons Being Assertive is Difficult

Robyn Finley
4 min readOct 21, 2021

….. And the 1 Action that Can Help

Perdido Key. FL

Assertiveness and aggressiveness; Oh how the two are often confused. In reality, some of the most assertive people are actually some the kindest people you probable know. So what exactly is assertiveness?

Assertiveness IS:

  • Maintaining & Communicating your Boundary
  • Maintaining & Communicating your Choice or Belief
  • Located in (or near) the space between passive and aggressive
  • Not allowing an outside influence to cause you to sway in the choice you’ve made or the boundary you have set
  • Not Aggression
  • Not Passiveness
  • Saying, “No” When Appropriate
  • Saying, “Yes” When Appropriate
  • Verbalizing your needs in a respectful manner
  • Stating your needs while also being compassionate and maybe even while expressing gratitude

Simply put, assertiveness is communicating your needs, desires, thoughts, choices, beliefs and boundaries while not allowing others to cross the line in the sand that you have drawn.

Without further ado, Let’s take a look at 3 (of many)reasons why being assertive is challenging for so many individuals:

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Robyn Finley

Marriage and Family Therapist, Ed.S; Functional Nutrition Counselor- Specializations: Infidelity Recovery, Mental Health & ALL things Sex.