How to Establish Healthy Boundaries

Everyone at times experiences the pull into different directions. The stress, the anxiety, and even fear this causes is completely unhealthy. Unfortunately, we live in a society where very few people understand let alone practice establishing healthy boundaries in their lives.

Things You'll Need

• time management
• an open heart and mind
• the ability to say yes when you need to
• the ability to say no when you need to.

Instructions

1. When one suffers from totally taking ownership of their life, ultimately, they are living a boundary less lifestyle. When there is confusion about responsibility and ownership the problem is lack of boundaries. Boundaries are healthy if established properly. A boundary in this context refers to where you end and another person begins. First of all establish the areas where you feel pulled, stressed, taken advantage of, abused, or even manipulated.

2. Once you have pinpointed those areas figure out which ones you are contributing to by not establishing a healthy boundary. What do you need to let go of in your life? There are things you will have to give up sometimes to live a life with boundaries. Family and career are two of the biggest areas this affects. The two involve relationships that are spent with those in very close proximity, which usually leads to a crossing of boundaries eventually.

3. Respect yourself enough to know where you as a person end in a relationship, job, project, business deal, volunteer opportunity, etc... Those around you need to understand that they do not control your time, life, or priorities.

   The only one who can show them this is you! Be clear in what you have to say, stick to what you actually say, and carry through with what you have decided on.

Tips & Warnings

• Boundaries help you establish a clear way your going to live your life.

• The sooner you set the boundaries and respect yourself enough to do so, you will start eliminating stress and show other people what your willing to tolerate and what you choose to live with.

• Behaviour has a lot to do with whether or not someone lacks boundaries.

• Abusive individuals have no boundaries, abuse is not to be taken lightly in any form. If you are being physically abused by someone who lacks boundaries and is out of control you must contact the police. Just because someone else close to you lacks control in their life does not mean at all that you need to tolerate or "help" them in that area.

• A lack of boundaries not only allows yourself, health, lifestyle, and family to be affected but also, unless you determine you will live with boundaries whether or not those around you will choose to or not will determine if respect will or will not continue.

• The individuals who end up lacking respect for one another most often times have crossed over relational boundaries.