How To Become More Assertive
December 29, 2009 by gfrancis
I am a person who at many times in my life have felt down and depressed about various issues that I have had in my life such as the fact that I had a speech impediment, stuttering. I was desperate to find a way to stop stammering/stuttering and was more than happy to work hard to achieve fluency.
From reading life coaching and positive thinking books, I realised I had to become a far stronger person, more care-free and to have more respect for myself. I decided that if I did not want to go somewhere I wouldn’t, whatever anyone said. I was well aware that it would be tough to ensure that I kept up this new found attitude but I knew I had to give it my best shot.
Then came the first challenge to this new found attitude; it happened at my friend Ian’s house. He is a very successful business man; he sells front doors for a living and can be quite an assertive person, he also works with a group of cost reduction experts. He and some of the other “boys” had organised an evening out for the following weekend. I was not at all interested in going out on that particular night for various reasons. Ian soon asked if I was interested in going out to which I answered in the negative.
That answer was not enough for him and he proceeded to question my reasons for not wanting to go. I felt all of the eyes of the people present descend on me and I felt quite awkward. Normally in this situation I would give some excuse but instead I asked him why I needed to give a reason and why my answer of no was not enough for him. He seemed quite shocked at my strong response and moved on to question and nag someone else.
Things are now far much brighter in my life; I have achieved fluency with the help of a chap called Steve from The How To Stop Stuttering Centre in the UK and I am generally a far more confident person.
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