View 3 slides

4 Effective Ways To Respond To The Negativity of Others

It always seems that at the moment when you’re feeling most happy, there’s always somebody around who wants to bring you down. Whether you’ve landed a dream job, found yourself in a new, loving relationship, or made that big sell, Debbie Downer is never far away to be the bearer of completely unnecessary bad news. How should you respond when you’re feeling great — or just want to find ways to feel great — and someone wants to rain on your parade? 

Fortunately, there are several really good ways to deal with these negative naysayers. We’ve picked four that we believe are the most effective. 

1. Show some compassion

In many cases, when somebody sees that you are happy, they feel jealous because they are unhappy themselves. As the expression goes, “misery loves company.” It might be the case that they see you’ve got money, success, and material possessions, and they are unsatisfied in their lives because they want these things too. Let’s be honest; we may have even found ourselves on the wrong side of this dynamic and, hopefully, have learned that there’s nothing productive about taking others down a peg or two just because they’re having a better day than you are. 

The first important thing to understand is that they are acting this way because they envy you. So in a way, you should see this as a compliment. When they predict your gloom and doom, just listen patiently to what they have to say. Be compassionate and ask them how they’re doing. Showing them a bit of sympathy and sharing some encouraging words will get them more on your side. Also remember how good it made you feel when someone who you felt envious towards said some nice things to you.