You know how it goes.
You may be the nicest person in the world, trying to get along with every single person you meet (and ninety-nine times out of a hundred you do), but at one point you’re going to come across a difficult person.
Dealing with difficult people is a cornerstone technique you need to get handled as soon as possible. Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur (side note, next post I’ll be breaking down what I’ve been working on recently), a nurse, or still in school, learning how to deal with difficult people is a skill that can’t come about soon enough.
I’ve had to deal with my fair share of difficult people over the years. Here I shall address dealing only with difficult people you have to see on a regular basis, such as somebody you live or work with, that you have no ties to. Somebody that, to be frank, had no positive impact on your life that you could happily lose in an instant.
I’m going to come right out with it. I can’t even call this my number one tip for dealing with difficult people; this is my ONLY tip.
IGNORE THEM.
Don’t even let them enter into your consciousness. This sounds immature, but I’ll elaborate.
When you have to deal on a regular basis with somebody you don’t get along with, seeing them and interacting with them is the most difficult part of that dynamic to change.
Sure, circumstances will change over time, but as it stands you are going to have to continue working or living with that person. So you may as well get used to it.
But how do you ignore them? Put simply (unless you have to speak to them regarding work) just stop speaking to them. I know, I know. It sounds childish. But I’m sure you’d rather that than getting angry and frustrated all the time.
But it doesn’t stop there.
You need to completely remove this person from your consciousness. You know what that means? NO BITCHING ABOUT THEM! Actually, don’t even bring their name up. Why would you need to talk about them anyway?
This refers to talking about them with other people and talking about them to yourself. Cut them out of your mind! Don’t mutter about them under your breath, don’t flick them the V sign when they’re not looking, and most importantly don’t think about them.
These a tough rules to stick to. You won’t be able to stick to them all the time, you’ll likely break more of them than you run with, but it’s a start.
The key thing you have to remember is you have to put your own happiness and your own state of mind above that of this other person that you don’t see eye to eye with. They’re clearly not making the effort for you.
When you bitch and moan about another person, either to yourself or with friends and colleagues, you’re only damaging yourself. The person you’re talking about isn’t feeling any worse off for you saying those things behind their back, but the more you talk about how much you dislike them, the more space they are taking up in your brain.
Don’t even let them enter into your consciousness.
This is all about you, not them. Six months down the line you will have moved out, or moved job, and you will barely even remember them. You will wonder why you spend so long obsessing over an ill feeling. What a waste of time!
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