Protect Yourself from Negative People

“Let go of negative people. They only show up to share complaints, problems, disastrous stories, fear, and judgment on others. If somebody is looking for a bin to throw all their trash into, make sure it’s not in your mind.” — Dalai Lama

We live in a complex time. If you listen to the news regularly, it’s mostly bad. Pandemics, shootings, racial injustice, political fighting, environmental catastrophes; it’s a wonder we don’t all live in a constant state of depression.

There are a lot of factors we do not have control over. It’s not worth spending time obsessing about these as there is very little we can do to change them. In my Surmani Business Coaching article on How to Maintain Overall Happiness in 2021, I talked about many factors that we do have control over in order to maintain happiness in our own environments. Another major way to improve happiness is to shield yourself from negative people.

This should be an easy thing to do. Of course, if we have a family member or boss who is a negative person, it may be difficult to stay away from these people. You can, of course, leave your job and find a better working environment. Family is more difficult, but spending less time with a negative family member might be an option. I had a harder time distancing myself from negative people when I was younger, and still building my…