Sometimes all that’s needed to enforce your boundaries in a situation or relationship is a simple phrase that changes everything. Otherwise, you could be stuck with what you got indefinitely.

Many people spend years waiting for their lives to improve. For example, they hope that a partner will finally see how much they are hurting, or they wish that a difficult boss would suddenly become supportive.

This state of wishing and hoping often feels like progress, but it is actually a form of stagnation.