How to deal with negative people and shut them down?

 

Negative people are everywhere. Like toxins in the air, you can find them at your home, college, office, gym or even in your friend circle. It is not uncommon to find negative people in our close-knitted circle. I had a friend who used to call me and suck out all my positivity. She was so pessimistic that even the fairest things you see would appear dark to her. Every time we interacted, she drained me off. She was always whining and complaining to the point that I started seeing things in a negative light. But soon, I discovered that it is not me. I was always a positive person, and since when I have become negative? After a lot of introspection, I concluded it's the negative company that I have been keeping off lately. It was not good for my mental well-being. It was not how I was fundamentally wired. So, I decided to shut all the negative people off from my life. But how to deal with negative people? It was a tough decision to make but was a rewarding one. Not only this but also I cut down negative coworkers. Initially, I wondered how to deal with negative people at work? But then I mastered that art too. 

 

So why should you cut off negative people in life and at work?

 

There are several reasons for cutting negative people from life:

• When you surround yourself with negative people you can become negative yourself and start feeling pessimistic about things around you.
• Negative people drain off all your energy to a point that you start feeling terrible about yourself. As a result, you get divorced from being productive on a daily basis. 
• Negative people also can be a source of stress especially when you can not avoid them. 

 

And once you cut negative people from your life, you see yourself becoming more productive, happy and positive. And these three things are a precursor to your mental well-being. 

 

So how to deal with negative people? Let us figure it out: 

 

1. If you can't handle their negativity and feel overwhelmed by their pessimistic attitude, you should cut them off from your life. It will be in the larger interest of your overall well being. 
2. Sometimes you can't avoid them at work or in your daily lives, but you can limit your interaction with them. You can just deal with them on a quid pro quo basis and just focus on getting your work done. When you limit your interactions with them to a bare minimum, you become more productive. 
3. Many times negative people need to know that they are getting too negative to bear. So, you should tell them the same on their face. If their negativity is bothering you or it is unacceptable then you should clearly tell them and maintain a distance. You can also ask them if you can do something to help them so that they become less negative. And if they want your help you can help them. 
4. Sometimes negative people are negative due to their unfulfilled desires, past trauma or they have a wounded inner child that needs repair. So if you really want to deal with negative people, speak to them and figure out the real source of their misery that is causing negativity to come out. Once you figure things out, you can counsel them, assure them of your presence and even provide the resources to resolve their conflicts. As you do these things for them, they will start turning positive towards you. 
5. And when nothing works and you can't avoid negative people, you can simply distribute the negativity by hanging out in groups. Whenever you are required to be negative people around, you can invite others too so that you do not have to handle the negative person on your own. Also, you can pick up some cheerful topic to talk about such as a new comedy movie or series that you recently watch whenever a negative person starts with his negative talks. This way you can shut down the negative person without offending them.
6. To handle negativity at the workplace you should use a lot of diplomacy and tact as your stakes at work are really high, and you can't afford to annoy them. So, if you want to read more on how to deal with negative people at work, you can read it here. 

 

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