Putting your foot down is never easy, but it can be necessary. I used to always do work for my coworkers all the time. Even if they weren’t in the same department that I was in, or if the task wasn’t in my job description, I would still do their work for them. I would do it because I was fearful that they wouldn’t like me or that they would exclude me, and I just didn’t want to see them get in trouble.

Well, that was foolish of me. It’s important to put your foot down because if you don’t, people will think that you don’t have a problem with others constantly telling you what to do. People will think that you are okay with being bossed around and doing everything. Once you put your foot down, people will stop taking advantage of you.

The second you stand up for yourself, you’re letting others know that you won’t keep doing everything they tell you to do. Putting your foot down is important, not just because you’re standing up for yourself, but because it shows that you were brave enough to say that you’ve had enough. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for yourself, and when you finally put your foot down, people will be amazed. Although some people may dislike you for it, others will be truly happy for you. When you put your foot down and stand up for yourself, you’re teaching others who are afraid to speak up that it’s okay to stand up for yourself.

I finally told my coworkers to stop taking advantage of me and that they should do their own work since it was out of my department, and they finally stopped taking advantage of me! When you put your foot down, others will see that you’ve had enough and they will know to not take advantage of you anymore.

It takes a lot of courage and bravery to stand up for yourself, but when you do, you will start to feel more confident with yourself. So, if you are dealing with someone who is picking on you, telling you what to do, giving you an attitude, or never showing up on time, then you should say something. Put your foot down so they know to stop taking advantage of you.

My name is Linda Tran. I'm 24 years old from Boston and I'm majoring in Marketing with a concentration in Social Media at the Southern New Hampshire University. A fun fact about me is that I learned coding and HTML at the age of 11.