Whether you just love being around people or you enjoy making people happy, you always look out for others. Sometimes, people pleasers get a bad wrap for not being assertive enough or for letting people take advantage of them. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to put others first sometimes. You just need to find the happy medium by taking time for yourself and not giving more than you can.
1. You apologize for everything
OK, so you made a joke that was kind of offensive or maybe you spilled coffee on someone — those are completely reasonable times to apologize. You find yourself constantly saying “I’m sorry” even when the situation is in no way your fault. Maybe you even apologize for your own feelings in an attempt to not make anyone mad or cause confrontation.
2. People try to take advantage of your niceness
People know you’ll help them out whenever you can and will even drop what you’re doing, so they start asking for favors all the time. It’s your place to create a boundary and say “no” when helping others out is too much for you to handle.
3. You overthink everything
You’re always thinking about whether you offended someone or hurt someone’s feelings, but the people in your life love you for who you are. There’s no need to worry.
4. You’re hardly selfish
I mean, this can be a good thing — you’re always looking out for everyone, even when it’s not one of your homies. You’ll help anyone who needs you, but there are times when it is completely okay to be selfish. Remember to take care of yourself first.
5. It’s hard for you to move on from people who are bringing you down
You find yourself holding onto past friendships. You can’t let the toxic people go because you’re afraid of hurting their feelings, but you know it’s the right thing to do. You’d rather just make a subtle exit from the friendship than straight up tell the person how you feel. This ends up making you feel worse about the whole situation because you never really put your true feelings out there.
Always remember: It’s totally fine to take time for yourself and only focus on what's going on in your life at the moment. Looking out for other people isn’t a bad thing, so don’t beat yourself up over the past. It's nice to keep helping other people, but make sure you’re also taking care of number one, yourself.
