Respect Comes in Simple Packages

In a rapidly changing world the use of social media means that we exposed to a much wider group of people and they all have different values and opinions to us. A handshake is the sign of respect in some cultures where the bow of a head is respectful in another.

These changes mean that we have had to learn new habits of etiquette very quickly. What are the protocols for replying to emails, messaging via Facebook or Linked In? People can’t work twenty four seven and yet others expect immediate responses. What was said in private in the past, can often be posted online and may be unacceptable and inappropriate. New workplace etiquette, such as do you film your colleagues at after work drinks and then post the film online poses new questions. Where do you draw the line? How do you set a boundary on what is acceptable to you?

I think that the really old fashioned values such as courtesy and respect are key to a rapidly changing world. The faster our world changes, the more important these values become. Respect is the benchmark for setting your boundaries in this new world. To check if your boundaries are respected answer our short questionnaire below.

Do you feel respected?

• Are you made to wait (for reasons that could have been prevented)?
• Do you feel undermined when you present your ideas at work?
• Are you the person that others ignore in shops and other public services?
• Do people cancel out on your services at the last minute?
• Do you compare yourself and feel undermined by others good fortune?
• Do you feel that others avoid you?
• Do you feel others laugh or sneer or are sarcastic towards you?
• Do you struggle to feel acknowledged or accepted?
• Do people speak to as if you are a child?
• Do people tell you what to do all the time, acting as if they know better than you?.

If you answered yes to more than one of these questions, you may feel that others don’t respect you. This feeling may represent a fundamental feeling you have about your life, or it may represent the helplessness you feel about a world where the rules keep changing.

If you do feel a lack of respect or that the world is becoming a less respectful place, remember the key rules to setting your own boundaries of respect lie in:

1. Accepting Yourself – quite simply you are good enough, you don’t have to prove anything to anybody. Just be yourself.
2. Acknowledging Yourself – Acknowledge and respect your abilities, your time, your money and your resources.

Set the terms of your own self-respect to embrace the new world around you.

Just for a moment, scan your life and look at where you feel most respected.

Most people feel that they are respectful and respected people, so that they don’t see where they skirt around the areas where for them respect doesn’t exist.

Lucille Henry PhD.