Badass with Boundaries: The 14 Ways to Grow a Spine and Say No to Friends, Family, Colleagues, and Aggressive Strangers

A Must-Have For Learning to Live Free, Even If Everyone Around You Wants to Control You

Have you ever found yourself making excuses for how you live your life, even though you're awesome? Ever found yourself doing this with someone who is a hot mess, but wants you to explain why you're so selfish? Ever explained why you're too busy to do something, and then had the other person argue that you the stuff on your schedule isn't that important and you're selfish if you don't cancel it? If this is the sort of scrape you get into, this book will pop a spine right onto that invertebrate back of yours! If you're ready to become a badass with boundaries, this book will teach you the 14 methods needed to scrape off your parasitic bullies and start living life on your own terms.

Impossible to please without going crazy, some people will pry, nag, pressure, and judge until their victim has caved. People with poor boundaries often do not realize that they have done nothing wrong as they feel so guilty all the time. With better boundaries, you can protect your free time, say no to things you do not like, deal with difficult in-laws, relatives, coworkers, bosses, employees, spouses, children, neighbors, and friends.

Author Terese McIlvain spent much of her life being judged and slandered and then guilt tripped about her “disloyalty” to these same people. Disloyal acts included: having other friends, having a job, taking time to exercise and shower, not doing other people's work, getting married, having children, and naming those children herself.

The author idiotically spent decades trying to please people whose favorite pastime was looking at whatever she was doing and assigning a nefarious motive to it. One day, she stumbled upon a cache of things written about her between several of the power players in her circle. Upon seeing that she was considered everything from a neglectful parent to the laziest woman alive, she finally understood what her “boundaries mentor” had been saying to her for more than a decade: their judgment had nothing to do with her. It was just entertainment for judgmental people to pass around.

After spending a week feeling like she had been sucker-punched, McIlvain started putting up boundaries that should have been in place long before. She stopped explaining herself, apologizing for imperfections, and doing things for other people that they should have been doing for themselves. In short, she stopped living her life like a spineless jellyfish. If she could do it, so can anyone else.

~If you are tired of living your life by terms set by people who clearly do not have your best interests at heart: this book is for you.

~If you are exhausted by the demanding, ungrateful, and entitled people in your life: this book is for you.

~If you want to have time for yourself, peace in your home, good friends, and no drama: this book is for you.

On the other hand

~If you prefer to labor under the delusion that you are going to “ruin” your relationships if you stand up for yourself: do not read this book.

~If you like feeling guilty if you don't give away money, time, and energy that you need for yourself: do not read this book.

~If you enjoy drama and endlessly wondering why “you are always there for people who are never there for you”: do not read this book.

This witty and easy-to-read book will give you dozens of scripts and and the 14 methods that you need to stop acting like a jellyfish and start living with dignity. After years of being a people-pleaser, you may need help finding the words you need. This book will show you how to find the words to protect yourself. Life is too short to let boundary violators suck you dry. Take the first step toward freedom today.

Previously titled, "Skip the Guilt Trip", published with the pen name Tess M. Stevens.