No matter how the weather outside is, there are some people who would always have a dark cloud hanging over them.
Their negativity is so toxic that it can rub off on other people quickly and ruin a good and positive mood. Basically, their mood is suicidal, and anyone they come in contact with gets a bad taste of this.
You probably assume there is nothing you can do about this situation if you get caught up in one. There are ways to deal with negative people efficiently.
These are seven ways you can deal with negative people who try to rob you of your joy;
1. Limit the time they spend with you
No matter how positive you think you are, even if you have the personality of “sponge bob”, there are limits to how much negativity you can bear. Your enthusiasm is always at the risk of suffering from negative individuals if you allow them.
This is why it’s very critical to limit the amount of time you spend with such people. No matter how tricky, try as much as possible to evade negative people, so they don’t affect your positive spirit.
The fact is, negativity has been proven to cause damage to physical health, as well as mental health also. It also increases one’s chances of having a cardiac arrest. We don’t want to put ourselves in such a position, do we?
2. Speak up
You aren’t helping yourself if you allow people to invade you with comments and negative remarks.
It is critical not to be hasty in replies and best to listen, nonetheless, staying mute when people try to drain you of your energy with negative remarks gives the person the impression they can ride you like a pony and that what they say about you is true. Speak up and shut them up!
3. Don’t encourage their behaviour
Don’t give room for rubbish. I repeat, don’t give room for nonsense. Your sanity is far too important than someone’s attempt to mess with your mind. If you notice someone is being nasty with you, then it is in your right to hit the pause button real quick.
Don’t encourage these people because you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Let them understand you do not condone such behaviour around you and would instead they stop being nasty.
4. Don’t personalise their issue
To most people, empathy is considered a gift, but it can also be a bad thing. We typically, unconsciously, take on burdens of family or friends who come complaining about issues that are beyond your control.
This is no way a positive approach to handling issues, especially if the person in question is exceptionally negative. For people like this, it is easy for them t alter and embellish the truth in order to win your sympathy.
5. Change the subject fast
We are all social beings, and one universal character of being a social creature is communication. In this case, when you suspect a particular subject is headed in a negative direction, you can take charge and change the topic to something more positive. You should, however, strive to be subtle, so it doesn’t seem rude.
Recognise the point they are trying to make, but maturely move the conversation to a different direction before the negative pleasure of the person’s conversation sips into you and ruins your mood.
6. Discuss solutions and not problems
Most times, switching subject isn’t a guaranteed option if you want to handle negative people adequately, but it doesn’t stop you from being positive still.
Most people find it hard to say the right thing when they have people bombarding them with complaints. The trick is to seek more solution-based replies.
You could ask questions like, “how can we resolved the issue on the ground?” Or, “what do you think you want to do now?” Be discreet about your response so you can draw your friend’s or family’s attention to a solution-based perspective from a complaint-based one.
7. Leave them
Unfortunately, the only option we may have after we’ve exhausted our options of saving our friendship with people with negative personalities is to move on.
For family members, it may be difficult to cut them off totally, but we may have to limit the time they spend with us, so they influence their positive state of mind.
I hope you enjoyed reading this piece? What are the steps you’ve taken to deal with negative people? Share your thoughts in the comments.
