It doesn’t matter who or where you are, there are situations where your integrity and values might come into question. It might be a situation where you are getting discriminated against, or when someone is attempting to bully you for a personal or professional reason, or another individual who is actually out to harm you. There are various strategies to stand up for yourself and let the world know that you will not “go down” without a fight. Here are some ways to stand up for yourself in various situations.

Speak Up

Whether you like it or not, there are some individuals that might actually hold some power over you. This might be an overbearing significant other who you financially or emotionally depend on, that is pressuring you to act in a way that you don’t appreciate. Of course, if this situation ever gets too severe, you should let this be known as soon as possible to family and friends.

However, the other person might potentially not even know that you feel this way. You might passively react to the situation, or simply brush the situation aside without letting it be known that their actions aren’t appreciated. You might be surprised at how much can be resolved if you let your concerns be vocally known. Speak up! Have a conversation with the individual if you feel that the situation can be helped.

Start Somewhere

One of the first steps to really standing up for yourself is to realize that you are not standing up for yourself. It might be a friend or family member who is letting you know that someone else’s actions is unacceptable. You will have to actually start somewhere with regards to this individual. If it’s your boss who is continually making you work late, and you find that you can’t stand up for yourself - let them know that you can’t one day. This one small step might change the tone of the relationship, where they realize that you cannot stay late every day, for example.

Whether your fear is what people will think of you, or your significant other leaving you - you have to start somewhere. For example, if you need some personal space, and you have been vocal about it - take some time for yourself. This small step might lead to a habit, which can lead to a new dynamic of the relationship.

Contact The Right People

The sad truth is that there are many situations and relationships where even if you speak up, or take the right steps - it might not matter to certain people. It might be a significant other that abuses you, a police officer that racially profiles you, or a business partner that is trying to extort you. Sometimes, at this point - a drastic action might have to be taken.

The truth is that if you are in a situation where a police officer assaults you, but is abusing his or her power, what are you supposed to do? The police are the authority that you would normally contact in this situation, and it is clear that the police might not be able to help. After all, with many police departments, there is a blue wall of silence where police officers would rather protect their own rather than be honest about their infractions.

For those wondering what to do in this case, one option is to finally contact an attorney and review your legal options. There is no reason for you to live in fear of the same people that are meant to serve and protect the public. You can visit a website such as USAttoreys.com to find out what your options are if police have racially profiled you, searched your premises without a warrant, or there was some other incident of police misconduct.