Negative people are the worst kinds of people to be around. While it’s normal to feel negatively every now and then, it’s a different thing when this affects the people around you. Negative people will drain the life out of you rather than encourage and fulfill you.
These kinds of people will always find something wrong with the world and assume the worst in scenarios rather than be optimistic about it. This is why you should be wary of the people you surround yourself with. In this article, we’ll be talking about the 7 ways to deal with negative people.
How Can Negative People Affect You?
When you let negative people into your life, this can affect your mental and emotional health. The right people will support and motivate you into someone better, but negative people aren’t capable of doing that.
Whether you realize it or not, they will drag you down with all their baggage, drama, and negativity. These people can’t handle someone being better someone than them, whether that’s someone more successful, happier, or better than them in some aspect. They say that you need to be very careful of the people you choose in your life as they can reflect the very outcome of your life – and this is an accurate statement.
While positive people can make you love life more, negative people will do the extreme opposite which is dragging you six feet under with their mess.
Most importantly, negative people can manipulate and gaslight you into giving what they want. Not all negative people are toxic but most often than not, it ends being that way.
If you aren’t careful, they will control you with every fiber of your being until you can’t escape their grasp. As early as you can, walk away from that relationship or friendship that gives you nothing but exhaustion and negativity.
7 Ways to Deal With Negative People
1. Cut them off
The primary thing to remember with negative people is to cut them off because they don’t deserve a good purpose in your life. While it’s easier said than done, cutting them off is how you can release your hold from negative people and gain back your sanity once again.
Negative people will exhaust you even if you aren’t doing anything so cutting them off will release that exhaustion. You may feel bad at first, but realize that you’re doing this for yourself and nobody else.
2. Don’t tolerate their behavior
If you have negative people around your life and you tolerate their behavior in every aspect, then you’re doing it wrong. Don’t tolerate their actions and behavior because doing so will make them think that what they’re doing is okay and they’ll persist in being negative.
Speak up when you must and let them know when an action is negatively affecting you. Your voice is so important when dealing with a negative person.
3. Don’t absorb their problems
The aspect that makes it draining to be around negative people is that it’s so easy to absorb their problems as your own. When they rant about everything gone wrong in their life, it’s easy to think that you have to solve their problems as if it was their own.
Realize that the only person accountable to fix your problems is you and that applies even to them. Avoid the tendency to focus on their problems and let them solve their problems on their own. Let them take accountability for their mistakes as the burden should never be on you in the first place.
4. Change the subject
When they’re intent on dragging you down with their negativity, change the subject and avoid focusing on their pessimism. Don’t let it affect you and focus on something else instead.
When they see that their negativity isn’t affecting you as much as they expected, this will bother them. Negative people thrive in controlling people will their baggage so when they find that they can’t do the same to you, they’ll stop trying.
5. Stop trying to change them
As another common tendency, you can’t change negative people. While they can change, it’s not your responsibility to attempt to do so. Trying to change them will make you more frustrated, especially when you fail at trying to change them.
Negative people often have this mindset that’s hard to shift so they’re stuck in their ways. It is not and it will never be your responsibility to change, fix, or save people. The best you can do is try to see things from an optimistic perspective.
6. Stay true to yourself
No matter what, don’t let a negative person change your mindset and perspective on things. Your optimism is the best part of yourself so don’t ever let someone change that aspect of you.
Even if you’re surrounded by negative people, be the light and continue to shine your positivity to others. You never know when you could make an impact so staying true to yourself is the best thing you can do. Your inner positivity is the only way you’ll get through the negativity and drama surrounding you.
7. Try to understand them
Oftentimes, negative people have a lack of love and care from those around them that they choose to be negative instead. Try to understand what they’re dealing with and see things from their perspective.
While it doesn’t make things easier, understanding them will make things better in dealing with pessimistic people. Sometimes all they really need is more love from the world to stop acting in negativity.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article was able to shed insight into everything you needed to know about dealing with negative people. As much as you want to avoid them, you’re going to deal with negative people one way or another.
As long as you remain positive and not let yourself get affected by their negativity, you’ll be okay. Negative people only control those who are affected so by focusing on your radiance and light, you’ll be okay.