Requests and boundaries are vital tools in expressing our needs and setting limits within relationships.

🎯Requests involve asking someone to change their behavior to meet our needs. It’s essential to recognize that whether they comply or not is ultimately beyond our control; requests are fundamentally unenforceable. “Please speak to me more calmly?”

🎯Setting boundaries involves clearly stating what we will or won’t tolerate. For instance, establishing a boundary like, “I can’t continue the conversation when you raise your voice at me,” creates a framework for respectful communication.

Boundaries empower us by allowing us to take charge of our actions and responses. Enforcing a boundary means standing firm on what we’ve communicated, and it gives us control and autonomy over the outcome.

It’s essential to start by making requests. If the other party is unwilling or unable to meet them, we must decide to radically accept the situation or we can set a boundary.

Boundaries are a powerful tool in fostering healthy relationships and honoring our own needs and limits.