Dealing With Negative People Made Easy

I was playing tennis today with one of my tennis buddies. Wenplay once a week and we usually chat about work, professionalntennis players and local news.

Today he was very negative about the people of the area we livenin. According to him they are all thieves and crooks.

Now this makes me really angry when I hear him talking like thisnsince I have had very positive experiences with the people I havendealt with locally. I find the locals to be very friendly,nhelpful and considerate.

So we disagree on the facts. What can I do about his negativenthinking? What can you do when dealing with negative people?

Three Ways To Deal With Negative People

1 Get specific

When someone is caught up in negative thinking they will oftenngeneralize their statements. It is a good idea to ask themnquestions to clarify what they mean.

For example if my friend says all dogs are aggressive I will asknhim:

Small dogs or big dogs?
All dogs or certain breeds?
According to who?
In what kind of situations?

By doing this you can shift the perspective of the negativenperson from a generalized over reaction to a highly specificnopinion. This will ease some of the negativity and the intensitynof their outburst.
2 Let Go

Let go of wanting to control the opinions of the people you dealnwith no matter how negative they are. By all means talk to thennegative person and use your persuasion skills to help give themna more positive outlook.

However remember that each of us is entitled to be negative,nwrong and inaccurate! Once you accept this you will not get sonstressed about wanting to change people who are negative.

And ironically when you stop trying to change people they cannalmost sense that you accept them and so your words have morenimpact.
3 Choose to Be Positive

When people around us are negative sometimes the easiest thing tondo is to join in. You do not have to. If you want to just gonahead.

Otherwise find ways to maintain a positive attitude. Look for thenpositives in the situation and point them out to people. Asknyourself how you can use this opportunity to become better.

And refuse to get dragged down by others into the murky waters ofnnegativity no matter how bad it gets.

Being positive is a choice even when those around you havenslipped into negativity.