Does Negativity And Worry Make Our Life Worse
Ways to Stay Positive When You Are Around Negative People All The Time
Let’s face it, in a world full of unique personalities, complex emotions, and varying attitudes, it’s near-enough impossible to avoid some negativity. Sadly, though, encountering an individual full of negativity can turn an awesome day into a day from hell. But, we’re on a mission to provide you with the tools to combat those negative people.
1) Accept that they exist everywhere
Once you accept that it’s possible to meet a negative per
son at any time, it won’t be such a shock when it happens. If you prepare for something beforehand, it’s much easier to cope with when it does happen.
2) You Can Manage your reaction
Just because someone is projecting negativity your way, it doesn’t mean you have to respond in the same way. Fighting fire with fire is not the best strategy in this instance. Instead, stay calm, remove yourself from the situation and be the better person.
3) Don’t dwell on it afterward
The worst thing you can do is dwell on a negative experience because that’s when you’ll let it ruin your day. You need to understand that negative people are like that with everyone – not just you – so move on with your own life.
4) Enforce and set your boundaries
If you feel like someone is giving you a hard time, then it’s okay to express your feelings. Of course, do so in a calm and collected manner, but you should never allow someone to cross your limit. You need to politely explain that they shouldn’t treat you in that way.
5) Don’t take it to heart, don’t take it personally
At the end of the day, if someone is going to attack you with negativity, that’s a reflection on them, not you. You’re not to blame, they are. Seriously analyzing negative criticism can leave you doubting yourself and that is something you want to avoid.
6) Discover the cause
It’s not a bad idea to try and discover why the other person is acting negatively. A lot of the time, something is brewing beneath the surface, which you’ll never understand if you don’t ask. So, you could try and show some empathy to see if anything is bothering them.
7) Try to ignore it
Another option is to ignore the negativity completely. If the other person has no impact on your life and is just causing unnecessary stress, removing yourself from their presence will solve the problem.
8) Always be positive
The biggest factor in staying positive is making a conscious effort to do exactly that. When people are negative, it’s easy to slip into negative emotions yourself. But, you need to try to distract yourself and find something that makes you happy again.
Tips For Avoiding Negativity On The Job From Getting You Down
Feeling stressed at work? Are you having a hard time getting along with your colleagues? Or perhaps they’re always complaining about a thing or another? If so, you’re not alone. More than 98 percent of employees have experienced negativity or rudeness at work. About 80 percent lose valuable time worrying about the incident.
Workplace negativity isn’t just stressful. It also hurts your performance and productivity. Moreover, it affects communications, causing employees to no longer trust others. That affects their work, as well as their ability to fulfill customers’ needs.
Counting The Real Cost of Workplace Negativity
We have all have workmates who tend to label others and jump to conclusions. Some dismiss positive experiences and focus on the negative. Others have an all or nothing attitude, spread rumors, or thrive on drama.
These behaviors affect the entire workplace, not just their colleagues.
One person’s negative attitude impacts the whole work culture. It hurts productivity, customer service, and revenue. After all, unhappy employees create unhappy customers.
Statistics indicate that people are twice as likely to share bad experiences. Once an employee starts to talk badly about his workplace, the news spreads like wildfire. That can affect the company’s reputation, hiring process, and sales.
How to Fight Bad Vibes at Work
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to fight workplace negativity or at least minimize its impact. First of all, try to identify what’s at the root of the problems. Who’s spreading negativity and why?
Let’s say you have a colleague who’s constantly complaining about everything. Avoiding him may not be possible, especially if you’re working in the same office.
The best thing you can do is avoid arguments. Hear and acknowledge, and then move on. Sure, you can disagree with them, but that could lead to a fight. You should rather try to discuss the company’s achievements and share success stories. Encourage positive conversations to improve team morale.
What if you’re dealing with someone who tries to take as much credit as possible? In this case, transparency is paramount. Discuss openly with them and other team members, build authentic relationships with the people who matter and know your goals.
Always discuss programs calmly and avoid raising your voice. Take a deep breath and focus on the tasks at hand. You may not be able to change other people, but you can change your attitude toward them. Set your priorities straight and stop stressing over every little thing.
Does Your Attitude Affect Your Health?
Viewing the body and mind as separate entities is completely understandable. After all, one is imaginary, and the other is there to see in all its glory.
Arguably that’s why there is so much emphasis in the world on taking care of your physical health, but much less focus on keeping your mind healthy.
But, your mind essentially controls your body, which links the two stronger than you could ever imagine. In fact, your attitude and thoughts can have a serious impact on your overall wellbeing. With that in mind, we’ve put together five ways a positive attitude can have a tremendous effect on your health.
1) Enhanced immune system through positive attitudes
If you’re naturally prone to contracting colds, viruses, and general illnesses, you may need some help to boost your immune system. Now, positive thinking has been proven through multiple studies to do just that. According to experts, the body releases more immune cells to fight off a foreign attack.
9) Lower risk of heart failure
The heart is the workhorse which keeps our body running, but it’s also the organ that tends to cause devastation when something goes wrong. To protect yourself against heart failure, try to think positively rather than negatively consistently. A study indicated that positive thinkers are 75% less likely to develop heart failure than their negative counterparts.
10) Reduced stress
Of course, if you’re regularly having negative thoughts and adopting negative attitudes, you’re going to be rather stressed. If you can deploy some strategies to combat your negative tendencies, and start positive thinking instead, you’ll drastically reduce your stress. Plus, you’ll be in a stronger positive position to cope with your stress.
11) Healthy cholesterol levels
Most people associate cholesterol with your diet, which is completely correct. You should be eating a healthy, balanced diet full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. However, a great supplement to coincide with a healthy diet is positive thinking. A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology stated optimism helps keep your cholesterol in check.
12) Decreased chance of a stroke
Strokes are one of those things that usually targets people in the older age groups, but they are capable of striking anyone at any time. So, it’s in your best interests to do all you can to decrease your chances of having one. An effective way to do that is always to try and hold positive attitudes.
Effective And Smart Ways to Protect Yourself from Negativity
Negativity affects your life on every level. It has the power to ruin relationships, decrease work performance, and increase stress levels. The good news is that you can fight it by changing your mindset.
Not sure where to start?
Check out these smart, effective ways to protect yourself from negativity:
Don’t Take It Personally
Most people act in a certain way based on their previous experiences and current circumstances. Perhaps someone took credit for your colleague’s work in the past, so now he doesn’t trust his team anymore. That doesn’t mean he has something against you. He simply doesn’t trust people in general.
Stop taking things personally. If someone is misjudging you, prove to them that they are wrong. Be kind and authentic rather than stressing over it.
Set Boundaries
No matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to please everyone. On the contrary – people will always come up with new demands and take advantage of your kindness. That can undermine your self-esteem and keep you from focusing on your priorities.
Learn to say No and set clear boundaries. If someone reacts negatively or tries to hurt you, move on. That person isn’t worth your time or attention.
A true friend will understand that you have other things to do and that you’re not available around the clock.
Adopt a Positive and Optimistic Mindset
Be grateful for what you have and then seek ways to achieve more. Start a gratitude journal and write a few things every day. That will reinforce positive thinking patterns and reduce negativity.
Your positive attitude will also inspire others and strengthen your relationships. The more you focus on the good in your life, the more opportunities will arise.
Find Solutions, Not Problems
Most people tend to focus on the problems they are facing instead of actively seeking solutions. That results in feelings of guilt and dissatisfaction.
Whenever you have a problem, take the steps needed to solve it. The longer you wait, the more obstacles you’ll face along the way.
Stay away from people who make a drama out of everything. They’re only wasting your time and energy. Their negativity will affect you sooner or later.
Surround yourself with positivity. Build relationships with people who encourage and support you.
Remember that people don’t care that much about what you say or do. Focus on whatever makes you happy and stop feeding the negativity around you. Once you take these steps, you’ll be happier and see new opportunities that you’d otherwise have missed.
Why We Lie To Ourselves About Worrying
The best possible scenario is a life jam-packed with happiness, smiling, laughing and love, right? Despite searching for that, for sure you’ll also experience some negative emotions because they exist and are unstoppable. Worry is one negative feeling that people frequently encounter, and that’s because the future is impossible to predict.
But, believe it or not, some people fall into the trap of accepting worry as a beneficial thing. So, we’re here to expose the superstitions and help to reduce your worrying.
1) Worrying shows I care
Arguably, this could genuinely be true. For instance, worrying when your child ventures off on their own could cause worry. But, if you flip that around, people say they worry non-stop because if they don’t, it means they don’t care. You see, worrying needlessly on a frequent basis over nothing does not fall into the bracket of caring, it’s just a hindrance.
13) Worrying will prevent any bad surprises
Trying to rack your brain to determine every possible thing that could go wrong in every single situation will exhaust you. Plus, it won’t help, because you’ll never be able to predict what’s going to happen. So, instead of worrying to avoid bad surprises, become a more positive person so you can handle bad experiences if they ever do arise.
14) Worrying keeps me safe
So many people tell themselves they worry to keep themselves safe, because if they don’t worry it opens up the door for bad things to happen. For example, you may feel that if you don’t consistently worry about your partner’s whereabouts, they’ll instantly be unfaithful. But, by doing that, you’ll cause friction, when you could be focusing on being happy together.
15) Worrying helps me problem-solve
There’s a common assumption that regularly overthinking and worrying about something will help you discover a solution. But, in fact, the majority of the time there’s no problem even to solve. If there is, endlessly worrying will only cloud your judgment and prevent you from finding a reliable solution.
16) Worrying is a source of motivation
Bizarrely, some people believe that worrying empowers them to be proactive and avoid problems before they occur. Subsequently, they think that will prevent complacency and push them to become better. But, worrying is a negative emotion that doesn’t allow you to think clearly. It would be much better to find motivation from other sources that didn’t interfere with your thinking.