In one of my the previous posts, I wrote about the importance of being happy in what your doing to achieve maximum results. But we all have to admit there are environments in which it's difficult to gain happiness and one of the top ones is one of negative people around you.
As humans, we are naturally social creatures. This is manifested in the way we care about people around us and how they think about us. And the same applies to them.
Think about how many people would rather attend an event they do not like in the company of people who share their opinions than attend an event they like in the company of people who disagree with their opinions, including ourselves.
No one wants to be in a situation where he has to deal with negative people. Exposure to this negativity affects the mindset of a person discouraging them to; go after their dreams, start a new venture, learn a new skill, among others.
All because the people around a person believe it is dangerous to attempt something or it is too risky to try out something.
We have to understand that most of the negativity in people is deeply rooted in their fear of other people's bad perception about them. They fear losing respect or love of other people when they fail or look vulnerable.
As a result, they fail to pursue their dreams or something that might grow them or their careers. All they see is the outcome of failure and the embarrassment that comes with it if they try.
Because of this mindset, negative people don't feel full control of their own lives that they shift this to people around them seeking to control them to give them the respect and love they don't feel for themselves.
While negative people do need help, it's hard to transform them.
For example
You can play along with their negativity in the hope that you'll slowly integrate them into thinking positively as time goes, but your passivity may be misunderstood as a sign of acceptance to their beliefs and if you try to go against them they'll complain about you.
And when you try to bring in a 3rd party e.g counselor, they are received differently as one might get offended thinking your just critical of him.
These methods can help them but they need time because one has to change the subconcious mind that has groomed this negative thinking for many years.
Dealing with negative people;
One of the most advised ways to handle negative people is to ignore them and walk away or shut them out of your life. But we know how hard it is to do this if the negative person is one who is close to us for example parent, spouse, friend, family relative or colleague.
The best way I would recommend to handle negative people is to take personal responsibility of your own positivity. You'll only become negative about yourself if you go along with what negative people say or act towards you. Remember it's not about you, negative people are critical with everyone.
So learn and practise the power of positive thinking that you can use in all kinds of negative situations, you have a lot to lose if you don't practise this discipline.
Whenever someone tries to bring a negative thought into your mind, counter attack it with something positive. Always replace the negative thought with a positive one and time will come when you subconsciously turn negatives into positives.
Go after those dreams they are discouraging you from chasing, take more risks.
As you do this, you'll always look someone who is respected and loved and in full control of their lives in the eyes of negative people. And with time they'll start to appreciate your positive outlook and even start absorbing the positive energy you emit.