Treating people with kindness and considering the feelings of others are ideal characteristics to have. With that, there can come a time when people are putting others’ feelings ahead of their own and sacrificing their wellbeing to appease others.
If this sounds like you, and you find that people often take advantage of your kindness, but you can’t help but still overextend yourself, then you might be a people-pleaser. People pleasers are seen as helpful, but they often have trouble standing up for themselves, and usually put everyone’s needs ahead of their own. There is a fine line between being a kind person and trying to please everyone, so if you are unsure if the term fits you, these are six tell-tale signs to let you know whether or not you’re a people pleaser.
You can’t say no.
Not being able to say no is one of the most prominent signs of a people pleaser. You might find yourself saying yes to helping family members here and there and, before you know it, you’re everyone’s person to go to when they need a favor. Each time that you say yes when you want to say no is a tremendous betrayal to yourself and will negatively impact your self-confidence in the long run.
You apologize too much.
Do you notice that you apologize for every little thing, even if you did nothing wrong? If so, this could be a sign that you’re overly concerned about what people think of you, which is often seen in those who are people pleasers.
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