by Daniel Relph

Created on: January 14, 2010

I am the captain of my ship. I am in control of my life. There is nothing that can stop me. Many people think that is the benefits of being assertive.

That is not the case. Being assertive does mean any of these things. Those that always got to have their way are looked on as being selfish or self centered. There is no benefit to making the whole world about you because the whole world is simply not about you. What being assertive is about is interacting with the people of the world; this is where the benefits of assertiveness can be found.

Sale people are masters of being assertive; their main goal is to sell you as much as possible. You, on the other hand, want to spend the minimum amount of money to get what the sales person is selling. You both have goals; and so, if both of you are assertive then neither of you will completely fulfill your goals.

Before you met the sales person they had time to analyze and their goals and how pitch what they are selling; it’s their job. You, on the other hand, might not know exactly what your goals are. If that is the case the sales person will give you all these great goals and soon you spend more than you wanted.

The way to avoid this is to define your goals before you talk to the sales person. Do your homework. Find out exactly what you want and what you don’t want. Set limits on how much you’re going to spend. Set your goals and stick to it. You’ll find that you’ll have to make some concessions. You’ll probably not get all you want, but you’ll come to an acceptable agreement. This is one of the advantages of being assertive.

Doing your homework is an important part of being assertive. How can one be assertive if they are unsure and don’t know exactly what they are doing? This applies to other areas other than buying things. The Boy Scouts have a motto, “Be prepared!” You start by learning.

“He’s not breathing!” Do you know CPR? “I can’t stop the bleeding!” Do you know First Aid? Captain “Sully” Sullenberger was a hero when he ditched an Airbus A320 into the Hudson River when both engines failed because of bird strikes. Everyone talks about how he asserted a cool command over his plane and crew; people admire him because he saved the lives of his crew and passengers. What people don’t talk about is how he was prepared for the emergency. Captain Sully is an expert on Airline safety; he helped develop protocols

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>