Boundaries

/ˈbaʊnd(ə)ri/s

Personal boundaries are guidelines, rules or limits that a person creates to identify acceptable, safe and reasonable ways for other people to behave towards them and how they will respond when someone passes those limits.

– The Urban Dictionary

How do you be there for other people as much as possible, while also protecting your own well-being?

‘Healthy boundaries’ is a term I only became familiar with in my thirties. Becoming aware of the whole concept of boundaries was a revelation for me, particularly when I realised that all my years of struggle, exhaustion, and overwhelm had been because I didn’t know that I was allowed to – and supposed to – have boundaries.

I had always allowed the needs and desires of others to dictate my life.

Somewhere along the way, I’d learned that it wasn’t OK to put myself first; that it was more important to meet the expectations of others, and underneath all that… I felt that I was not worthy of putting my own needs first. I was so busy trying to be what I thought others wanted me to be that I actually didn’t even know what I wanted or needed – let alone have the courage to take a stand for that.

Needless to say, that wasn’t a fun way to live.

Ever since then, I’ve been learning and practicing the art of setting boundaries in my business and in my life.

Sometimes I’m really tuned in and I can take a powerful stand for myself and my needs. And it feels great when I’m able to do that. To my surprise, those around me adjusted easily when I was able to communicate my boundaries effectively and lovingly. And it usually does others a favour too; it helps everyone avoid situations that are likely to cause stress and tension when strong, clear boundaries are communicated and protected.

It feels empowering to set a boundary and have it respectfully met.

But there’s definitely an ‘art’ to setting and maintaining healthy boundaries and I’m still practising it (and making mistakes along the way).

Setting Personal Boundaries

Personal boundaries are all about protecting your emotional boundaries. What do you need to feel safe, strong, and happy? We teach others how to treat us. If you need to reserve your own private accommodation when you go away on holiday with extended family, instead of staying in the same house as everyone else, then do that, and make no apologies for it.

You have every right to protect your emotional sanity and well-being.Tweet it

If you need your girlfriend to be more punctual for appointments, then tell her lovingly how her late-shows impact you and the knock-on effects they have. Most of the time, people are completely unaware of how their behaviour is affecting us, and so we need to tell them. Kindly. And ask them to respect our boundary, whatever that may be.

In recent years, I went on a holiday with extended family, and I experienced again what it’s like to let my boundaries be crossed and to lose control over my well-being because of it. There are some situations in life that we know are going to cause stress and tension. When we willingly put ourselves in those situations without clear and healthy boundaries, it’s guaranteed to cause trouble. My step-father calls those situations “putting your hand in the mincer”.

I found myself doing that again – ugh.

Why did I willingly put myself right in the middle of a tense and predictably difficult situation? I think it was because I had naively hoped that maybe this time things would be different; that maybe by now we’d all matured enough to move beyond old family dynamics to be able to handle things differently.

But family dynamics are the hardest to shift.

Despite our best intentions to stay grounded and unaffected, certain family members or close friends can trigger us right back to our six-, ten,- or fifteen-year-old self and before we know it, we’re behaving just as if we were that age again.

If you haven’t been able to work through past relationship conflicts through therapy or fair, open discussions with each other, there’s always going to be residual pain in the relationship, just below the surface.

Unless both parties have been able to work through the issues to the point where unconditional forgiveness is possible on both sides, the relationship will remain strained.

Setting Boundaries in Business

Just as we teach our family and friends how to treat us, we also teach our clients about what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. You need to set clear, firm boundaries and lay them out in specific contracts and agreements. Often we’re not aware that a boundary has been crossed until we feel anger or resentment towards a client. If this is the case, it’s most likely they’ve crossed a boundary that perhaps you haven’t clearly articulated. 

If you’re not good at setting boundaries in your personal life, then it’s likely you’ll struggle in business too. But there’s hope! Step one is always to recognise where you’re not being assertive or clear enough with your boundaries. Then it’s a matter of practicing the art of setting strong boundaries that you will protect fiercely.

All successful business women have clear, strong boundaries.

Strong boundaries = strong business.Tweet it

How do you know if your boundaries have been crossed?

Psychologist Dr. Dana Gionta says that you can recognise when your boundaries have been crossed by tuning into your feelings. There are two key feelings that are red flags or cues that you need to enforce more healthy boundaries:

1. Discomfort

2. Resentment

If someone or a situation is causing you discomfort or feelings of resentment, ask yourself “What’s causing that? What is it about this interaction, or the person’s expectation that’s bothering me?”

Dr. Gionta says:

“Resentment usually comes from being taken advantage of or feeling unappreciated. It’s often a sign that we’re pushing ourselves either beyond our own limits or because we feel guilty (we want to be a good daughter or wife, for example), or someone else is imposing their expectations, views, values or judgements on us.”
– Dr. Dana Gionta

In all these cases, you’ve let the other person’s needs, expectations, views, and judgments interfere with your own values and priorities.

You Can Protect Your Boundaries by Checking Your ‘Personal Engine Light’

The way you feel around someone else can also be a big cue to strengthen your personal boundaries. Check in with your own ‘personal engine light’ when you’re around different people.

How does it feel in your body when you’re with someone?

How does it feel in your mind?

How does the presence of this person affect you?

Imagine that your body is like a car, with a dashboard full of warning lights. You have your very own ‘check the engine’ light for your personal boundary system. Your feelings are a security warning that your personal energy field has been breached, and you’re letting in stuff that isn’t yours. This is exactly what I unwillingly allowed during my family holiday. I was letting in all kinds of ‘stuff’ that wasn’t mine to take on. My personal boundaries were weak, unguarded or unclear, and I was giving away my personal energy unconsciously.

So How do You Set Stronger and More ‘Healthy’ Boundaries for Yourself?

Here are my five tips and strategies to help you protect your emotional well-being in difficult situations.

1. Know Your Limits

You can’t set healthy boundaries if you don’t know what your limits are.

What is it that you need to protect yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally?

What is it that knocks you off-centre or leaves you feeling tired, frustrated, overwhelmed, or resentful?

What are you able to accept and tolerate, and what are the things that make you feel uncomfortable and stressed?

Remember, feelings of stress and discomfort help you identify what your limits are.

2. Make Self-Care Your Priority

By making self-care your priority, it means you’re giving yourself permission to put yourself first; the first critical step to setting and maintaining healthy boundaries. When you recognise the importance of your own feelings and honour them through prioritising self-care, your need and motivation to set boundaries becomes stronger.

Putting yourself first also gives you the positive frame of mind and inner peace to be more present with people when you’re with them. And we all know that when we’re feeling happy and balanced, we can be a better wife, mother, husband, colleague or friend. If I haven’t made the time to do the things that keep me centred and grounded, I can become quite the grumpy mum, friend, and wife!

No one benefits from you not taking care of yourself and your needs. Put your own safety mask on first. Tweet it

3. Be Assertive

Even though you know intellectually that people are not mind-readers, you might still often expect others to know what you need. But since it’s most likely that they don’t know, it’s important to find a way to communicate clearly and effectively what you need from any interaction or situation. Being up-front about your needs and expectations and being able to communicate them clearly means there’s much less room for stressful situations to arise.

In the past, I’ve sometimes been a little hurt by someone else’s assertiveness when fiercely protecting their own boundaries (and that was possibly because at the time I didn’t know that I was worthy of asserting my own boundaries). But afterwards, I was often grateful for their assertiveness because when everyone’s expectations and needs are clear, it avoids all kinds of uncomfortable situations. Plus, it gives me permission to be assertive with my own boundaries.

4. Practice Makes Perfect

Communicating your boundaries assertively is a skill that takes lots of practice. I’ve been practising for years now and given my recent difficult experiences I realise I’m still far from getting this right. Setting boundaries takes courage, practice and support. It’s a skill we all need to practice and master. But it’s worth taking on the challenge to change, because when you’re able to set up and maintain your own healthy boundaries well, it’s a great feeling, for you and others.

5. Ground and Protect Yourself as Preparation for Maintaining Boundaries

Grounding techniques can really help you maintain your boundaries. ‘Grounding’ is any kind of technique you use to nurture a loving connection with yourself and the space around you. Some techniques include visualising yourself growing long, deep roots into the ground, perhaps all the way down into the centre of the earth (I love this one).

You can also use a grounding stone of some kind, such as black tourmaline or smokey quartz to help you ground your energy while you visualise yourself becoming deeply grounded.

When you’re grounded and centred, you don’t get so easily blown around in other people’s emotional storms.

It’s a way of intentionally connecting with your own core and intuition. It helps you stand your ground and stay centred around people who tend to knock you off centre.

Obviously it’s impossible to avoid all difficult situations entirely. But when you know you’re about to enter one, take a few minutes to ground yourself and then you could even imagine breathing a bubble of protective energy or light around you. Think of it as space that will only allow in love and positive energy and deflect anything else. Really see it and feel the force of it around you. This really works too if you believe it does.

Healthy boundaries are all about getting to know yourself and your needs intimately. It's about developing enough self-esteem to know that you are worthy of setting and maintaining your own boundaries.Tweet it

Find out what is that you need to stay centred and balanced.

Know the things that maintain your sense of well-being and comfort and fiercely protect those things.

Don’t let other people’s expectations or your own naïve hopes stand in the way of your needs.

It’s OK to put your own needs first!

If you’re not sure whether a certain situation will ruffle you, take the safe route and build in measures to protect yourself anyway. This is not selfish or unkind – it’s essential to avoiding stress and tension for everyone involved.

So dig deep, have a chat with yourself and find out what you need to stay happy, balanced and grounded. And let me know if you have any breakthroughs in the comments below!

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Did you like this article? You might also like:

The Art of Being Yourself: 5 Ways to Embrace Authenticity as Your Way of Life

How to Maintain Strong Boundaries in Business and in Life

What Does it Mean To Be True To Yourself? My Personal Journey of Finding My True Path & Voice

Peaceful Heart: 7 Powerful Steps to Cultivate True Inner Peace

In service to your success,