What exactly is assertiveness?

Assertiveness is a social skill that requires effective communication while respecting others' thoughts and wishes. Clear and respectful communication about one's wants, needs, positions, and boundaries helps avoid misunderstandings.

Working in the health sector requires assertiveness, as it ensures that your voice is heard and respected. It involves having or showing a confident and forceful personality, which shines through when stating your opinions, beliefs, and values. The ability to accept both compliments and constructive criticism will increase assertiveness in individuals who are high in assertiveness.

What is Self-Assertiveness?

Self-assertiveness is the act of defending one's point of view and expressing it confidently and sincerely. Both the phrases assertiveness and self-assertiveness involve standing by what one knows and believes.

Self-Assertiveness: Initial Views

I have always thought of myself as a very reserved, quiet, timid, and peaceful person, as evidenced by the Johari Window questionnaire and my own perception. I also think of myself as an introvert, therefore I do better in smaller environments. Being self-assertive, in my opinion, is a bad thing since it might imply subjectivity, hubris, and excessive confidence. I have always felt that in order to respect people around me and be true to myself, I must keep my mouth shut and conceal my opinions in order to give others the freedom to do the same and feel welcomed. Additionally, I thought that by voicing my opinions, I may be perceived as imposing my views on others, which might make people close to me uncomfortable. 

The association I made between confidence and arrogance was another significant problem I faced. I've always believed that if I were to be confident, others would perceive me as arrogant and pretentious. I also thought that being self-assured required being extremely opinionated, loud, and well-liked—characteristics I do not have.

The next video outlines three things that prevent people from becoming self-assertive. I tend to let others dominate me since I am a timid, quiet, and tolerant person who wants to make them feel comfortable and that their opinions are respected.

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As a result of reading, debating, and learning a great deal.

My understanding of what it means to be self-assertive has evolved. Since I am more confident in my knowledge, abilities, and competencies, I no longer link confidence with arrogance.  The idea of assertiveness has changed from opposing other people's views to providing additional insight that others may find valuable, to understand or consider a point of view that they did not previously consider.  I view assertiveness as a means to potentially educate and advance people's knowledge in a sector of employment in which I will soon be an expert. 

According to a blog article from Psychology Today, assertive person clearly expresses their wants and establishes limits, but they don't put unreasonable demands on other people or become angry when their requests aren't granted. Having this experience opened my eyes to the fact that assertiveness does not equate to rudeness or dominance. I also discovered that having the capacity for assertiveness enables one to approach individuals and advocate for oneself or others without resorting to violence. 

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I discovered via more study that assertive individuals, especially under stress, had less worried thoughts. In terms of demeanour, assertive people are assertive without being impolite. They respond to both happy and negative emotions without acting violently or becoming indifferent.

The advantages of being aggressive and the disadvantages of not being aggressive are both listed on the Psychology Today site.

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A post-personal development perspective

I can now understand that my perception of self-assertiveness was negative and fearful. I came to understand that self-assertiveness is a crucial skill in the workplace, particularly in the field of health advocacy. The capacity to believe in oneself and your potential to achieve based on the information you gain is what is meant by confidence, not arrogance. One must not hold back their feelings, opinions, or beliefs if they want to advance in real life. Self-assertiveness opens the door for innovation in the health sector, including innovative and effective methods of service delivery and methods for managing health systems.

These arguments and ideas have led me to feel that I am getting closer to reaching my goal of becoming a confident individual since I have become more aware of my weaknesses and how to address them.