Let me be direct.

People pleasing is not kindness. It's cowardice disguised as generosity. Each time you betray yourself to make others comfortable, your spirit wilts a little bit. You say yes when you mean no. You adjust yourself to fit in. You swallow what you actually feel because you're scared of what might happen if you're honest. And all that energy—all that suppressed truth—gets stored in your nervous system. It stays there like a demon feeding on you.

Here's what's happening: there's some form of fear. If you act and share what you actually feel, something bad may happen. That fear is an insecurity. A desperate grab for certainty. You want to know that people will accept you, that you'll fit in, that everything will be okay. But the cost of that certainty is yourself. You're suffocating yourself. You're hiding from your own truth. And when you wear a mask, your nervous system can feel that. It doesn't feel good in your gut.

If you say yes to enough things over time that you feel inherently you're meant to say no to, you create a disconnect. A conflict that stays in your nervous system. And that energy becomes something like a demon. A parasite that feeds on you. The only way to free yourself is to stop. To get gritty, get honest. Look at your patterns. Notice your friction the moment it arises. Start saying no. Be honest. And you don't need to always articulate why. Sometimes no is the full answer.

I'm not saying trigger everyone around you for the sake of being disagreeable. I'm saying stop betraying yourself. There's a contrast between triggering others through truth, honesty, care, compassion—and just being an ass. The difference is you can feel their energy. You meet people where they're at. But you don't abandon yourself to make them comfortable. That's the shift.

When you stop people pleasing, you're no longer holding on to what you want life to be. You're letting life show you what it's meant to be. And yeah, it's uncomfortable at first. But on the other side of that discomfort is freedom. Real freedom. The kind where you're not constantly monitoring yourself, adjusting, performing. You're just here. Moving freely. And that's when your life force strengthens.

If you're ready to stop people pleasing and start actually living, check out justinegliskis.com

Let's go.

Justin