Pleasing people relieved my anxiety. But by doing what other people wanted, what secured their happiness, I was often neglecting my own. I put up with things I shouldn’t put up with because I didn’t want to rock the boat. I stayed quiet when I should have spoken up—stayed small when I should have become big. And the more I did it, the more anxious I became and the more I needed to please. I’d set myself up to fail in a vicious circle of self-neglect.
