When push comes to shove

Are you a pushover or merely willing to accommodate a loved one? Flip the script, draw the boundaries, and say yes to saying no

- Karishma Kuenzang

Oh, to be the easy-going one! The one who's okay with wherever the gang picks for dinner, who'll drink whatever they're serving, who rarely disagrees. Makes life so easy, for everyone. Except maybe for them? Chandni Tugnait, psychotherapist and founder director of Gateway of Healing, a mental-health organisation, says that most people pleasers can't help it. "Childhood experiences, especially in households where affection or approval was contingent on meeting others' expectations," are probably why, as adults, some people avoid disagreement or conflict. It's easier for them to endlessly prioritise others' needs over their own.