Personal boundaries are limits you set to protect yourself. Healthy boundaries form by having good self-understanding and clear personal values. An important part of respecting yourself and developing healthy relationships is understanding and honoring these boundaries.
In a friendship or romantic relationship, understanding each other’s values means you don’t change who you are and what you believe simply based on the other person. You remain an individual within the relationship. Clear boundaries help ensure that you respect yourself and that others will respect your values.
Each relationship has its own set of boundaries that must be respected. Examples of boundaries could be:
- You and your friend have an understanding that you can talk on the phone until 11 p.m. If you call your friend at 2 a.m. on a school night, that’s disrespecting the boundary.
- In a romantic relationship, you know when and in what context you want to become physically intimate. You know your partner’s feelings about this, too.
- You balance time you spend with friends and with family to be respectful of both. However, if your family wants you to spend all of your time at home, that’s not respectful of you.
