Don’t Be A People Pleaser

Do you ever get caught in the trap of trying to please the people around you/  I want to warn you, this is a trap that will cause you great emotional and relational pain in the future (you might be experiencing it now).  Consider what Henry Cloud says about being a People Pleaser:

“If you are trying to make everyone happy, you will end up making some of the wrong people happy! You’ll be trying to please people who are judgmental or controlling or arrogant … people who require others to do what they want them to do before they extend approval. To keep these hurtful people happy, you would have to do some things that are not good in the long run. You would have to make some bad choices to keep these people smiling.

Let’s look at an example: Think of a group of people you’re connected with — your friends, your family or people you work with. If you have that one person who is self-centered or controlling, no matter what you do, that person will only be happy when you make decisions that meet their individual interests. But, when you need to decide something that is best for everyone, that person will be unhappy if they do not get what they want. So, if your goal is to keep them happy, you must make decisions that are not good for the entire group.

The people who are hardest to please are often the most self-centered. They are only happy when you do what is good for them, and that usually is not good for the whole.”

Tired Of Trying to Please All Those People?