Fact: people will try to use you for selfish gains.
It’s up to YOU to use boundaries to stop them.
Remember: what you tolerate is what will continue.
Don’t tolerate selfish behavior. Draw lines. Say, “No.” Make rules.
Give yourself permission to protect your mental space at the expense of other people’s comfort. Their comfort isn’t your top priority—your mental space is (should be).
Your mental space is your most precious home.
And just as you’re selective with who you invite into the walls of your physical home, so too should you be selective with who you invite into the walls of your mental home.
It’s your job to invite the right guests in, to show the wrong guests out, and to know when it’s time to have no guests at all.
It’s never your job to be anybody’s doormat.
You are the door. They have to knock/call. They have to ask permission/get invited. They have to be respectful and courteous. And they have to add value to the relationship within the time that’s shared.
Otherwise, thanks for coming over, but I have to get back to protecting my mental space now.
…Maybe said a little less bluntly?
You get the idea.
This is how you turn your mental house into your mental home.