be more honest and forthright

A friend started in on this little thing he does which can be negative and undermining sometimes and I basically said (politely) “Please don’t start that X, I can’t take it right now.” I felt embarrassed for blurting out like that but he said he appreciated my being blunt about it!

Remember, to be truly honest you need to be honest with everyone around you and be hones with yourself. You are going to hurt feelings, offend people and probably even lose a friend. But in the end people will respect you and you will respect yourself. Read “Winning” by Jack Welch.

I am working on this. I realize that sometimes I self-censor so heavily because I think I might piss someone off, that I become bland and boring, with little to say. Strangely enough, I was sitting at a coffee shop talking with a friend about this issue and I did let loose with a sarcastic comment, and the guy at the next table spit his coffee out laughing and we ended up having a great conversation!

I’ve gotten into a bad habit of being so afraid of offending people that I basically overthink everything I want to say and therefore say nothing. When I censor myself, I become much less interesting. I need to worry less about what other people think.

I have issues.

Major issues, I tell you.