Before we start it’d be useful to identify what we mean by a “negative environment.” Basically we’re talking about people, relatively close to us, whether in family ties, physical proximity, or that we see extremelly often, maybe because they’re co-workers, we’re roommates, go to school together, or just becuase we’re family
Without further due, here are the 5 Tips To Help You Deal With Negative People.
1) Identify them one by one.
In life you’ll be meeting people that drive you forward, inspire you, help you be the best that you can be. But also, unfortunately, you’ll meet people that for some reason take you down, slow you down, or just don’t help you move forward.Ideally you identify the negative people one by one. Yes, make a list with their names, and to the right you write one word that best describe what you don’t like about that person. For instance: Charly – Complainer, Mary – Gossiper, Alice – Whiner, etc.When you’re forced to put one word that describe each of the negative people you come across, it helps you be better prepared to deal with their negativity, becuase you’ll know what you’re dealing with beforehand.
2) Don’t give them all the attention you used to give them.
Remember, you don’t want these people taking so much of your time and energy. You have to think: it’s either them, or your medical studies (in the case of N.). They’ll find someone else, a more receptive ear to their complains, so they’ll start slowly going away. And that’s a good thing for you. If you’re thinking “I’d like to have them around, but just be less negative” you’re getting into fuzzy territory. You’re asking them to change. And maybe they want to, and maybe they can’t, or they just don’t want to…
3) Let them know you want more positivity in your life.
Everyone assumes that everyone remains the same. But that’s hardly ever the case. We, as human being, keep changing. You could share with your closest people, especially the people you’ve identified as having a negative attitude, that you’re changing. That you want something better, more positive for your life.Don’t worry, you don’t have to be blunt. You could drop hints in your conversations with them, such as “You know, I took a webinar last week that I really liked. The speaker talked about the power of positive thinking, positive messages and the like that really helped me a lot. You should take it too.” Yeah, I know, the last comment maybe could be avoided, but I couldn’t help myself!If you don’t want to say anything, you could print some positive signs and place them around the house or whatever you see these people. For instance “A positive mind gets positive results.” or “If you don’t like what you’re getting, change what you’re doing.” There are really tons of quotes you could find online. Go for the ones that most resonate with you.
4) Shield your mind (and your heart).
When you see negative people coming your way, quickly identify what’s his or her main negative thing. For instance, envy. Or complainer. Next time you’re around that person you’ll be a bit more “prepared” internally to deal with the things that bother you. Eventually you could explore why is it that envy, for instance, bothers you so much. Maybe you could find things about yourself and envy that you don’t like. Just saying…You could even try to share your thoughts with that person about envy, or maybe you could tell your truth openly… -good luck with that. Remember, when talking about someone’s flaws (according to you) you can go the polite way, or the harsh way. Being tactful is recommended.
5) Fight tooth and nail.
Remember what’s at stake here: Your life, your happiness. Fight tooth and nail to defend that. And a negative environment, sooner or later gets to you, whether you realize it or not. You’ll know it when it’s really late, when you start believing that the world is a mean and nasty place. Yeah, I know, it can be sometimes. But knowing about it, is not the same as living in that world all the time.You can be alert sometimes, but is really tough (and draining) to be alert all the time to sutil negative message other people keep sharing. Get away from those people. Run away, if possible. If you can’t actually run away physically from those people, at least travel with your mind. Be physically present, but mentally live in your positive world.Some people could say hiding away is not a mature way of solving the issue. I agree. But when the issue can’t be solved, I’m aiming at protecting you from the “disease” of negative people.Hey, I didn’t say it was going to be easy! Good luck. Really. The world needs more positive people like yourself. We’re going to be here for you. Never forget that. Have an Inspowered day!
Bonus. Praise them.
And do it often. It disarms them. It’s hard for negative people to accept an honest and sincere compliment. They’ll naturally try to turn your positive comment down. Like you go: “nice sweater, and the color matches your eyes”… and they go: “It better be! You don’t want to know how much I payed for it. Overpaid I should say.” Let’s give them something, it’s a natural born talent to turn a positive praise into a very negative remark! (I’m being sarcastic. Why in the world would you want THAT talent, huh?).Thanks Joelle for emailing me with this suggestion
What would YOU add? Please leave your comments below.
Please share your thoughts about dealing with negative environments. Any feedback from your personal experience? We’d love to know. Please leave a comment below. Thanks
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