Most people have dreams of great friends and climbing the ladder of success. However, if you want to reach the realm’s dreams are made of, you need to surround yourself with positive people. Avoid negative thinkers as they can ruin the whole environment, and if they can get inside your mind, they can cause catastrophic thinking.
Those who have a fatalistic attitude can cause an epidemic in your surroundings. Remember the old saying that a “bad apple spoils the bunch?” It’s because once an apple has bacteria on it, it’s not long before those toxins spread to the others in the area. So, if you don’t want the toxic attitude of negativity to rub off on you, you need to avoid negative thinkers at all costs.
Ten Ways To Avoid Negative Thinkers
If you want to live a positive and happy life, you mustn’t let people ruin it with their toxic pessimism. Having a negative mindset can cause you great harm, so here are some ways to avoid those gloomy folks.
1. Walk Away From Negative Thinkers
One of the easier things to do is to walk away and excuse yourself from a conversation with the negative thinker. If you see them approaching, forgive yourself and find something else to do. Don’t think you’re stronger than the clutches of these toxic thought processes because it will eventually rub off on you.
2. Combat the Pessimistic by Hanging Out in Groups
It’s easier to avoid negative thinkers when you’re in a group. The more people with you, the easier it is to turn your focus towards more optimistic ones. You can disperse the negative energy around you by hanging with someone more confident in the group.
3. Block Them on Social Media
Social media is full of people that like to spew negativity. If you find someone who wants to stir the pot and be controversial, you need to block them. Make social media a safe place where you engage with family and friends, and you don’t have time for all that other toxic nonsense.
4. Don’t Argue With the Pessimistic
If you argue with someone who has a toxic thought process, you’re feeding them by making them and their topics of conversation important. Once you let it happen, you’re ensuring that there will be unending conversations in the future. When they want to debate the issues and spew negativity, it’s best if you walk away.
When you get in a battle with them where you’re trying to defend your points, you’re wasting time and energy. They will never see your side on a rabid topic, so don’t engage with them to give yourself peace of mind. You’ve better things to do with your time.
5. Recognize Those Who Have a Negative Mindset
One of the best keys to avoid negative thinkers is to identify them. You might not always know someone who is pessimistic until you start paying attention to certain things. If a person leaves you stressed and exhausted just being with them for five minutes, it’s probably because they’re filled with negativity.
You will find these people in both your personal and professional life, but these folks will zap your productivity. Though it might be hard to label someone as a negative person, you must limit those who have a toxic influence over your life. Choose your friends wisely.
6. Encourage Friendships With Positive People
When you surround yourself with positive people, negativity will flee. See, the negative person wants a captive audience, and if you’re constantly avoiding their doom and gloom with your optimism, they won’t stay around for long. You need friends that lift you and bring a positive influence into your life.
7. Set Boundaries and Remember You Owe No Explanations
There are times when you will engage with those negative folks whether you want to or not. However, you do have the power to set boundaries for what you will and won’t discuss. It’s always a good rule of thumb to avoid topics like religion and politics, as these tend to cause heated debates.
If you don’t want to converse with someone about a specific topic or at all, it’s your right to excuse yourself without an explanation. You don’t owe this person any reasons why you won’t engage in their cynicism.
8. Understand Cynicism Is Part of Life
You must understand that life is full of negative things as well as positive ones. It’s your choice whether you will engage in it. Sometimes, you will need to discuss things that are more on the darker side of life, but it’s necessary.
You can’t put your head in the sand and act like the world is all sunshine and roses, as you will find that it isn’t. There will be bad days, difficult situations will happen to you, and you’re going to be drawn by the darkness of negativity. However, it would help if you put things into perspective.
According to Medical News Today, when you need to process something awful that’s happened to you, it’s essential that you accept the negative emotions, reframe your thoughts, and find ways to overcome your adversity. Being positive doesn’t mean you must ignore reality, but it means that you need to limit the time you spend in those places of despair.
9. Stop Feeding Negative Thinkers
Did you know that one of the easiest ways to avoid negative thinkers is to stop giving them so much attention? As the old saying goes, misery loves company. When you converse with someone who has this toxic mindset, you’re feeding their pessimism.
The best thing to do is find a good excuse and slip away from them if you can’t get out quick enough, limit eye contact, and appear disinterested in what they have to say.
10. Choose Your Mindset
You have the power to choose the mindset you want. For instance, when negative thoughts or people come your way, combat them with positivity. Each day you’re going to be tested and challenged by things that want to get your spirits down, but you can rise above it with optimism.
Why Should You Avoid Negative Thinkers?
So, you’ve learned how to avoid those with toxic thought patterns, but now you need to know why it’s so important. Here is a list of things that negativity can do to your life.
1. It Affects Your Health
When you think negative thoughts all the time, it can affect your mind and your health. According to Marque Medical, constant negative thinking can cause you to have headaches, sleeping, depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal.
2. It Affects Your Attitude
If you’re constantly thinking about all the bad things in life, it’s going to affect your attitude. It’s hard to be happy and upbeat when you feel like there’s nothing but bad things surrounding you. You must avoid negative thinkers as they can get inside your head and allow the toxins of negative thoughts to ruin your outlook.
3. Negativity Drains Your Energy
If you wake up in the morning thinking about all the horrible things around you, then you’re not going to have a good day. However, if you wake up feeling about all your blessings, your gratitude attitude will set the stage for a fabulous time. When negativity comes knocking at your door, you don’t have to answer.
4. Life Is Too Short To Be Crabby
Do you want people to think you’re crabby? Grumpy people don’t seem to attract as many friends as those who are upbeat and jolly. Let the world see the best side of you, as your optimistic outlook will be infectious.
5. You Won’t Grow
If you want to grow emotionally or spiritually, you must have the right mindset. If you’re constantly using pessimistic phrases like:
- “I can’t.”
- “It’s too difficult.”
- “This is so frustrating.”
- “I’ll never get this done.”
- “Why is my life so hard?”
It changes your mindset when you make sayings like “I can’t” or “I won’t” or a regular part of your conversation. You can’t grow when you don’t try difficult things. You must have the mentality of a winner if you want to succeed.
Final Thoughts on Learning How to Avoid Negative Thinkers
It’s all up to you on the people you choose as friends and who you will engage in conversations during your lifetime. If you have people, both family and friends, who are constantly bringing you down with their negativity, then you have the power to cut them off. Even if you can’t limit your time with someone, like a coworker, you do have the authority to set boundaries for yourself.
You can avoid specific topics of conversation and talk to them only when it’s about pleasant things. When you were younger, did your parents or grandparents ever tell you things like “birds of a feather flock together” or “you can’t run with the wolves if you aren’t going to howl?”
While these metaphoric sayings might seem silly, what they’re expressing is that the people you run with have a direct impact on you. Avoid negative thinkers, as it won’t be long before they rub off on you.
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