People have more power over us than they really should so I’ve put together 5 strategies you can implement immediately for dealing with negative people. In a perfect world, how other people perceive you and your foundational beliefs really should not matter. Unfortunately, I don’t live in that perfect world, and I’m guessing you don’t either.
Staying positive all the time is impossible, but you can change your mindset to be more positive in your everyday interactions. Join our challenge to create a more positive YOU!
Lean into the Positive
Positivity is literally everywhere. Even in the darkest moments, you can find a “silver lining” but you may have to look for it. Now I am not in any way saying that death, serious illness, or any other major crisis is to get you all fired up and excited about your life.
What I am saying is that you can take any opportunity you are presented and find the positives in your life to celebrate. Maybe you are grateful for some extra moments with a child before bed, a hug you got unexpectedly, or that nice big bowl of ice cream you cried over. No matter what you are grateful for, acknowledge it.
Whether you are going through the highest of highs or the lowest of lows there are positives just waiting for you to accept. You can not effectively manage the highs in life without the lows. When you are dealing with negative people search for their strengths and be aware of them. Make it more of a conscious effort to point them out and let that person know you are thankful for their contributions.
Condition Your Brain
Condition your brain to seek the positives first by critiquing your inner dialogue. When you catch yourself thinking a negative thought turn it around. Instead of saying to yourself; “This is too hard” say “This is a skill I need to learn”.
Catching these momentary lapses set us up for the ability to manifest greater things for ourselves. As an additional bonus, others around us will start to seek out positives as well. Little changes go a long way towards changing our overall look on life and attitudes towards others.
This concept is easily applied when dealing with negative people too. Catch those stray negative comments and purposely turn them around into something positive. Instead of thinking “Mary is always late and wastes my time” change it to be “Mary is so busy I am thankful she makes time to meet with me.”
Be Compassionate
You can not possibly understand what someone else is going through. Even if you have encountered the exact same scenario, you do not know what they are dealing with. Every single person reacts to stress, family, work, and other life situations differently.
Always be compassionate about what someone else may be living through. It’s possible they are grieving, jealous, or unable to seek the positives in their life. If you think someone needs professional help, make sure you give them resources that may assist them.
Create Distance
If you have tried everything else to deal with negative people and those strategies are not working, create distance. It isn’t cold or cruel to limit your interactions with people who are sucking away your energy. We naturally do this with coworkers, acquaintances, and others in our lives.
This strategy is harder to apply when it’s someone we love. That doesn’t mean we still shouldn’t do it. Limiting the time you spend with someone, your phone calls, and your contacts with someone who is draining may be the strategy you need to find the positivity in your life.
Don’t Join Them
One of the biggest mistakes we often make when dealing with negative people is we give in to the pressure of negative talk about or with them. Simply do not join them in this behavior. This is so much easier said than done, but you can use the other strategies to train yourself to walk away, change the conversation, or simply refuse to participate.
Negative talk fuels our grumpy attitudes and is a catalyst for bringing down all the good around you. It becomes a focal point that is hard to give up and refocus. If you haven’t already join our challenge to create a more positive YOU!
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What a great list! I especially like the tip about conditioning your brain to think, “This is a skill I need to learn” instead of, “This is too hard.” It’s like replacing, “I can’t” with, “I can’t YET”. That concept applies to so many areas of life and I love how you used it as a strategy for dealing with negative people. I am definitely going to utilize these strategies! 🙂
Thanks for reminding me of these strategies. I’ve been dealing with a lot of negative people lately and I’m trying not to allow their negativity to affect me.