By Winsome Duncan
‘You are known by the company you keep’.
In my line of work, negative people come in haystack bundles. They have always got something to say about what I can or cannot do. How I look, how I behave or the problem with my attitude. My advice to any discontented person is to focus on themselves and make their lives better, instead of trying to impress upon mine.
In business there are so many people in jobs they do not like. They wake up every morning dreading to start the day and wishing for the weekend to come quickly. Some of them are so miserable that wherever they go they spread confusion. It is super important to connect with those people who breathe life into your dreams.
The following are my top three suggestions to remove negative people from your business circle:
1. Let Them Go
I remember Bishop T D Jakes saying in a sermon ‘When someone wants to leave you, let them walk. Your destiny is never predicated by those people who left. Had they have been for you they would have stayed’. This is great advice. You need to have the confidence and assertiveness to know not to raise the dead. Let go and let God.
2. Silence Is Golden
Stop returning phone calls, text and emails. Simply disconnect and work on bringing in positive vibes into your environment. This sounds mean, I call it self love. Do not place yourself in a position where you are drained and depleted by the attitudes around you.
I remember a former friend of mine who was extremely competitive and did not want to see me shine. There was always a secret rival between us, as long as she was the top dog and everyone adored her she was happy. I had to make a conscious decision to release her from my life and be honest about our relationships. I simply said ‘You do not wish me well and I would prefer for us not to speak’. Of course she was not happy and I was sad to leave her behind, however since moving on my business has excelled. I put this down to not having her jealous insecure eyes watching me. Remember silence is golden.
3. Rebuilding after fake associates.
Life may be different without these negative people dragging on your heels. You will have to find your feet and build yourself back up with positive self talk. Begin to deprogram and start removing the tapes that are played over in your head. I remember one lady who was in adoration of my alter ego (Lyrical Healer). Now I know this action to be an immediate red flag, because when you fall off their golden perch they want to hang you for it. She invited me around for a lovely dinner and later infiltrated my circle and friends. The hardest thing about it was I trusted her and got close to the family only for her to turn around and not honour her word to assist me as my business was growing. When she removed me from Facebook I was vex, because i thought how could I not see her fake intentions? You know what you live and learn in life. This too shall pass, I would rather she left my life, then be in it as a pretentious associate.
Conclusion
The fact is in life it takes all sorts of characters to make the world go round. Hurt, rejection and pain is a part of life, as long as you remember you do not need to put up with negative people or circumstances. You always have a choice to improve your situation or walk away. I hope this has been a helpful insight into make a decision that has probably been on your mind for a while. Good luck and best wishes.