4 Ways To Advocate For Yourself
Many people wish they could stand up for themselves and advocate for what they need and believe in, but they don't always have the courage to do so.
There are various reasons why people find it challenging to advocate for themselves. One significant factor is self-esteem. Other barriers include a lack of knowledge or skill set, such as good communication skills, and uncertainty about the right course of action in a given situation.
This post is designed to help you boost your confidence, a key factor in effective self-advocacy. Enhancing your confidence can make you a strong advocate for yourself in all aspects of life.
Know Your Rights
In the first instance, it's essential to know your rights. These rights will differ in different situations and scenarios, so it might be best to understand one specific area first, i.e., standing up for yourself as an employee or customer. Start small, then build your knowledge using legal guidelines and a framework that is in place, not just hearsay from others. This way, you can know that what you are advocating for is what you are entitled to do and you're not overstepping the mark.
Practise
Advocating for yourself can often be scary, especially if you're not one for making a scene. This is where practice comes into play. You need to practise different scenarios to adjust your terminology, tone of voice, and body language. To learn this, you can practise alone or with people you trust, or you can find workshops or charitable organisations that can help you, like joining workshops for LGBTQ+ women who can give you the tools to advocate for yourself and help you understand your rights.
Build Relationships
To be a successful advocate, you do not need to be aggressive or make enemies to get what you want. The aim is to build relationships that you can rely on and that will support you when you need them. Let's say you are advocating for improved medical care. In this case, the last thing you want to do is alienate medical professionals. Instead, you need to be assertive in involving yourself in your care and working with them to get the desired results. This might mean you need to do independent research and be ready to present your case, or it can simply be saying no, you would like not to do something or be exposed to something and exercise your right to choose your choice of treatment or medical experience.
Believe In Yourself
You cannot be a successful advocate for yourself if you don't believe in yourself. You need to believe that you are worthy of fighting for what you need, be it at work, at home, in social settings, or in any other area of life. And to stand up for what you want or need means you need to have conviction in the words you are saying. So stop treating yourself as a second-class citizen, believe you are worthy and good enough because you are and speak up, be heard and get the results you want.
