Assertiveness efore addressing how to increase assertiveness, it is helpful to clarify what we are talking about. Assertiveness is the middle ground between aggressiveness (attempting to dominate others) and passiveness (allowing yourself to be dominated). There are three elements of assertiveness. Self-Worth Worth of Others Putting Behavior in Context The first element is to have a healthy sense of self-worth. The degree to which you believe you are worth something is the degree to which you will believe that what you need is important. The second element is recognition of the worth of all people. Not the relative worth, but the fact that each person is worth something, simply because they exist. Worth is not dependent on appearance, behavior, or achievement. It is based simply on one’s existence. I am, therefore, I have worth. The third element of assertiveness is the ability to see behavior in context. If we are able to look past the immediacy of behavior, both the behavior of others and ourselves, we will be able to see the true, intended message of that behavior. We will be able to avoid having messages filtered through the experiences of our lives and those of others. The first two […]