As important it is to stand up for yourself, it’s equally as important that you do it right. With anything, there is a right way and a wrong way. You want to stand up for yourself in ways that won’t damage relationships or affect people’s respect for you. Typically, we see assertiveness as positive. Of course, it is… if we remove all context from a situation. There is certainly nothing wrong with letting other people know exactly what you feel, want, and need. This is an excellent way to demonstrate your self-confidence. It also instills the validity of your outlook on others. It’s you standing up and saying hey, I matter and my point of view is valid. It’s easy to skip past assertiveness and go straight into aggression. This is where you risk losing everything.