Fool Me Once? Stand on Business. Fool Me Twice? Keep Standing.

Seek so much as a kernel of advice on the internet in 2024 about conflicts in a relationship, a situationship or even an affair, and you may find yourself inundated with recommendations to “stand on business.” A Hinge match asks to reschedule your first date with 30 minutes’ notice? Stand on business. Your ex continues to hit you up months after the breakup? Stand on business.

After being friends with a man for about two years, Sigourney Norman received a flirtatious direct message from him on Instagram. Once she had confirmed he was indeed interested in dating, she suggested they meet for coffee.

The man said he had to travel for work, Ms. Norman recalled, but instead of getting in touch again in a few days, as she expected, he didn’t reach out for three weeks. Here was an opportunity for Ms. Norman, 33, to “stand on business.”

When he got back in contact with her, “I didn’t curse him out or just not respond,” she said. “Instead, I said, ‘Hey, it’s really nice to hear from you, but it made me really sad I didn’t hear from you for three weeks.” Her business? Stood on.

Put simply, to “stand on business” means to stand by the boundaries you set for yourself — to put your self-respect, business and personal values first.

Of course, it’s perfectly fine — in the name of self-preservation — to ditch someone who’s asking for yet another chance. Too often people are dragged along in unhealthy situations that don’t serve them, and standing on business is one way to avoid that. It asks that you be less “weak in the knees” and instead plant your feet firmly on the ground. But is it always that simple? And how does one effectively “stand on business”?