Lifestyle

5 Ways Passive-Aggression Will Keep You From Reaching Your Goals

by Shelly Greenstein

We all know you need to take what you need in order to survive in this world.

If you don't assert yourself in every aspect of life, success will be much harder to achieve.

Lately, I've been noticing the personality patterns of my peers and realizing the correlation of where they are in their lives.

What I mean by this is I see how their traits are helping them get ahead when it comes to their social lives and careers.

I'm not at all saying I have the secret to success perfectly calculated and figured out. All I'm saying is, being passive-aggressive when communicating how you feel will get you nowhere in life.

When you need something to be said or done in order for you to progress to the next stage of your life, making it known in a passive way will not help at all.

You need to be straightforward with your needs in order to have them met. If you are not able to do so, you need to start practicing because the minute you figure out how to lessen your passive-aggressive tendencies, your life will start to become easier overall.

Here are five ways to increase your level of assertiveness in order to get farther in life:

1. Realize your needs matter.

If you walk through life thinking you are irrelevant, you will never get anything accomplished. We, as human beings, tend to think we are not important in the grand scheme of things.

Don't let your self-consciousness get in the way of your future. The reality is, you matter just as much as anyone else does.

2. Don't assume anything.

Assumption is one of the biggest weaknesses a person can have. The issue with this is it is an extremely subconscious weakness, and very hard to pin-point in order to work on it.

You can't ever assume anything of another human being because at the end of the day, you never know what's going on in another person's mind.

The only thing you can know for sure is how you're feeling, and it's up to you to express that truthfully in order to move forward.

3. Implications won't get you anywhere.

When you merely imply there is an issue or you need something from another person, rarely does it ever get you what you really want. Being straightforward is a very useful tool to utilize when it comes to achieving success.

If you want that promotion, let your bosses know point-blank instead of just joking around about it. If your significant other is pissing you off by doing something, tell him or her flat out rather than passive-aggressively implying it.

Practicing this will get you better and faster results in all aspects. It's just a matter of building up the courage to do so.

All human beings have this capability, and it's just up to you to discover it.

4. Don't be afraid.

We as human beings have a sense of fight or flight when it comes to facing a threat or a problem, and it is up to us to decide in the moment which one to choose.

Courage is a necessary entity to have in order to move forward successfully in life. If you do not have this, you will most likely remain stagnant in many aspects.

The thing to ask yourself when facing an issue is, "What's the worst that could happen?"

If you do this when up against a problem, you will be able to bravely face it more head-on.

5. Ignoring a problem will not solve anything.

Ignoring an issue thinking it will eventually die down on its own is a weakness many of us have. Sometimes, we think if we do nothing, the universe will take care of it for us.

The reality is, we have the responsibility to solve our own problems because no one else will do it for us. Obviously, there are some issues that can be left alone that will eventually straighten themselves out, but that's up to your judgment to decide.

If you ignore every single thing in your life that is bothering you, you will lead a miserable existence that will never progress.

Sometimes, you need to take things into your own hands.

You need to assertively make the necessary changes on your own.

Trust me. It will help you get farther in life.

It might be difficult to do, but it's worth it.