Name your feelings
Emotions like overwhelm, anger, and frustration may indicate that others are intruding on your personal time or space.
Instead of pushing the feelings away, try understanding them. It will allow you to set the right boundaries.
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Start conversations about boundaries with a disclaimer to set the stage for a compassionate, permissive discussion.
Share your resolution to set boundaries. Explain why it’s important to you and how you believe it will benefit you.
People who have trouble setting boundaries usually have trouble responding to boundaries set by others.
Instead of feeling dismissed, angry, or rejected when friends or lovers put limits on your interactions, respond with “I value your honesty” or “I appreciate you sharing that with me”—even if the boundary was difficult to hear.
Practice saying “No, thanks” and nothing more.
Without a clear sense of your own boundaries, you may regularly overshare personal information. It can make others feel uneasy and you uncomfortably overexposed.
Create a list of sensitive topics that you will only discuss with trusted people who make you feel safe and seen.
Healthy friendships are mutually nourishing, not one-sided and depleting.
If you have a one-sided friendship that leaves you feeling unseen, unheard, or disrespected, resolve to take a break from that relationship.
It’s totally normal to feel guilty, selfish, or embarrassed after setting a (completely valid) boundary.
Your boundary-setting muscle will take time to develop. Prepare a mantra to refer to after setting difficult boundaries with others. “I set boundaries to..."
Set yourself up for success by choosing a cherished friend, family member, or partner to be your boundary cheerleader.
When you set a new boundary, let your cheerleader know, and carve out space for the two of you to celebrate your success.
Imagine the many ways you will benefit from setting boundaries.
How will you change? How will your daily life become richer? How might you feel more authentic in your relationships? Keep your vision at the forefront as you make the decisions.
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You must make your boundaries about you.
Once you get clear about what matters most to you, then you can take the bigger step of communicating that to the others.
The word “boundary” can leave the impression of separation.
But boundaries are actually connecting points since they provide healthy rules for navigating relationships, intimate or professional.
- Know that you have a right to personal boundaries.
- Recognize that other people's needs and feelings are not more important than your own.
- Learn to say no.
- Identify the actions and behaviors that you find unacceptable.
- Trust and believe in yourself.