If you want to be more confident after divorce, this is the #1 thing you must do to stick up for yourself.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth, friends.
In your journey to get confident and feel better about yourself, you cannot be afraid to step on toes.
Don’t be afraid to piss people off. It’s how you’ll be more confident after divorce.
Strong people will end up pissing other people off. And that’s OK. If you want to be more confident after divorce, you must.
Now, to be clear, I’m not talking about pissing folks off in the wanton, sociopathic, “Fatal Attraction” bunny rabbit kind of way.
From now on, you need to start internalizing that you matter. What you want matters. Your worth matters.
As you recover from your divorce, rebuild your self-esteem, and learn how to set healthy boundaries, there will be many people around you—some may even be close friends or family members–who may not like that you’re voicing your opinion.
If the people who don’t like it, let this year be the year you stick up for yourself. And if they get angry or offended that you’re sticking up for yourself, forget them. You don’t need that toxicity.
What you do need, is to be more confident after divorce.
Let this be the time you learn to stick up for yourself. It’s how to be more confident after divorce.
You may have been raised to not make a scene. To just play nicely. To not cause a ruckus.
That social conditioning means that during your marriage, you probably let your spouse always have their way so there wouldn’t be a conflict. Maybe you went along with decisions–even when they didn’t serve you—because you didn’t want a fight or to make them upset.
But doing that for years probably made you resentful, or stole your self-confidence and ability to find your own voice. And this silence may have buried that part of you–the part that had dreams and hopes and goals that were every bit as valid as your partner’s and your children’s.
While it may not seem like it, that part of you is still alive. That part of you deserves to be heard, acknowledge, and validated. It’s how you’ll be more confident after divorce.
But you have to do it yourself. It may seem intimidating, but you must speak up for yourself this year. And let people in your life know what you want.
Because, what other choice do you have?
It won’t be easy though, but at the end of the day, at the end of this transition to being divorced and independent in your life, there is one thing that will always be true.
No one will stand up for you but you. But you are all you need.
You’ve mattered all along, although people in your life probably weren’t reminding you of that. Hell, you probably forgot to remind yourself that you mattered. But you must start internalizing this. You must not be afraid to tell the people in your life–the ones who drain you and take advantage of you and don’t appreciate you–to back up, to shape up, or to get the hell out of your face.
You must be your own advocate.
You must be the person in the mirror who tell yourself that you got this.
You must know that it’s time to put yourself first for a change.
And if you need help, for the love of all things holy, ask for help.
Because at the end of the day, you have yourself. And if you do it right, that is all you need.
So, what steps will you take this year to stand up for yourself?
What does finding your voice again look like for you?
Originally Published on SurvivingYourSplit.com
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all-access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class, and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group, and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
◊♦◊
Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.
Photo: iStock