Respect yourself and others will respect you
~Confucius
Question:
How do I get
others to respect me?
Answer :
I’m asked
this question regularly; by parents in regards to their children, children in
regards to their parents, by women in regards to men, and men in regards to women…
Everyone wants
to know how to stop people from treating them in ways they don’t like. They figure there must be something they can
say or do to get them to change.
But they can’t. Not anymore than posting the rules in my house can get anyone
who enters my home to obey them.
I always ask
people, “Who’s the only person you can control?” And everyone always answers, “Myself” but
then expects others to stop
doing something they don't like when they ask them.
But it doesn’t work
like that. Even if you ask them politely, using your scary voice, or a megaphone.
So how do you
get others to respect you? By respecting
yourself.
That means:
if someone is treating you in ways you don’t like, then leave, end the
conversation, hang up, go away, move into another room, whatever… But don’t expect others to leave you alone, go away, shut up and do whatever you want them to. Your
boundaries are not their problem; they’re yours.
Take care of your own boundaries and, if you don’t like how others are treating you, respect yourself and don't stick around.
