Actually, it is not a difficult thing to recognize the negative people around us. However, often what makes it difficult is that the people who give negative thoughts and negative behaviors are family and closest people, such as your work colleagues or your own siblings. Of course we can’t get away from them. The most practical approach is to start to understand the background of their negativity. Often these negative people need a lot of time and energy from us. Hence, it is important to recognize these negative people because sometimes without realizing it, we have given them our thoughts and feelings. It’s also important to regain your strength and stay mentally strong!

Actually, it is not a difficult thing to recognize the negative people around us. However, often what makes it difficult is that the people who give negative thoughts and negative behaviors are family and closest people.

Here are some strategies you can use to reduce the negative impact of negative people:

  1. Take care of your precious time.
    Negative people can monopolize your time, even when they are not near you if you are not careful. It does seem like a good and polite thing to spend two hours with the person that you can actually do maybe 15-30 minutes of your time. Annoyance that often arises afterwards, often makes someone even release the annoyance to your partner or closest person who actually has a positive impact on you. Instead of complaining about someone who is unpleasant, when you go head-to-head you are a fun topic. Limit your time to talking and thinking about unpleasant people.
  2. Determine your attitude.
    Spending time with negative people can ruin your mood quickly. Pessimistic and somber thinking can also reduce the positive feelings you already have. It shows that you have given strength to others to dictate your emotions. Make an effort to determine the attitude. You can make sentences that can strengthen yourself, for example: “I will remain positive even if I have to meet the person who keeps irritating me”.
    Instead of complaining about someone who is unpleasant, when you go head-to-head you are a fun topic. Limit your time to talking and thinking about unpleasant people.
  3. Restore the focus of your mind.
    Negative people often influence what we think. Maybe you are annoyed by colleagues who have the attitude of being an all-knowing person and have difficulty to stop talking so that you have difficulty contributing to work meetings. In the end, you don’t even think about how to improve your performance but instead spend time thinking about your annoyance at the colleague. Notice how our minds change when it comes to dealing with a negative person. The longer you spend time feeling scared, restless, irritated and worried, the less time you will be able to work at work.
  4. Be productive.
    Negative people can also give rise to a bad attitude in us if we are not careful. For example, when a calm person is surrounded by a cousin who is annoying for hours, it can make someone who has an optimistic attitude think that the future will be ruined. We could be blaming the person, “because of him, I’ve gotten bad thoughts all the time”. This actually gives power to the negative person we blame. When we behave differently from the behaviors we normally do, take responsibility for those changes. Provide understanding to control your emotional reactions regardless of the circumstances.
    When we behave differently from the behaviors we normally do, take responsibility for those changes. Provide understanding to control your emotional reactions regardless of the circumstances.
  5. Look for and make friends with positive people.
    It is often difficult to find the good side when we are surrounded by negative people. Do not hesitate to seek out and approach positive-minded people to balance the negativity that arises. Identify the positive people in your life. Proactively find time to be with them. For example, having lunch with them or participating in hobby activities in a building community. Or visit a psychologist, if it is quite difficult to find positive people around you.
    It is often difficult to find the good side when we are surrounded by negative people. Do not hesitate to seek out and approach positive-minded people to balance the negativity that arises.