Life comes with its ups and downs, and navigating our way through it isn’t always easy. One of the main factors that can affect our well-being and sense of self-worth is the presence of a toxic person in our lives. But what exactly is a toxic person? More than that, what should you do if you have one in your life? In this post, we explore how to deal with toxic people the smart way.
Who are toxic people?
A person can be moody or change their behavior due to the circumstances in their life. However, a toxic person is one of the following:
Bully
someone scares
manipulative person
Someone who enjoys your discontent
Unfortunately, you’ve probably come across such a person either in your personal or professional life (or both).
Knowing how to deal with toxic people can go a long way in managing these relationships in your life. In this post, we look at some of the techniques emotionally intelligent people use when confronting toxic people. You can rely on these techniques the next time you encounter a toxic person.
How smart people deal with toxic people
Don’t justify their behavior
A toxic person’s behavior towards yourself is unjustified. However, it can be easy to make excuses for someone. Especially if they might be going through some hardship in their lives.
We can all relate to some level of moodiness or euphoria. However, if someone is acting hateful towards you, that is not acceptable. Absolving a toxic person of their behavior only makes you doubt yourself. Moreover, it is likely to have an adverse effect on your health.
Distance yourself from this person
Someone who enjoys making you feel bad is not someone who deserves your time and attention. Ask yourself, is this ring true to any of your personal relationships? If so, it may be time to distance yourself from this toxic person. Understandably, this is easier said than done.
At the same time, think about the impact this person has on your health. Not saying anything about how you would feel if you no longer had to deal with their behavior towards you.
Ultimately, there are different ways to deal with a toxic person. For some people, cutting them out entirely may be the right decision. This is if circumstances permit and the time is right for you.
You don’t really see how toxic someone can be until you breathe a little fresher air.
-unknown
Set boundaries
For others, cutting a toxic person out of their lives is not a realistic solution. In this case, creating some boundaries may be the way forward. Make the toxic person aware of the impact of their actions and behavior. While this is not an easy task, it can help them realize that you are no pushover.
Setting boundaries also means putting yourself in control. You decide when and where you will meet the person. You can be sure that there is a time limit for these events. This will help you mentally prepare for this meeting and put you in the driving seat.
Plan your reaction
This brings us to the next method for dealing with toxic people. Once you set boundaries, you will be able to prepare for how you will react to anything the person in question has to throw at you.
If you know they are biased towards criticizing you for a certain aspect of your life, or have a certain way of upsetting you, be prepared for how you will respond to this in advance.
Whether it’s practicing relaxation techniques or preparing your response word for word, this will put you in better control of the situation.
Get support
Perhaps the most important piece of advice when it comes to dealing with some really bad people is to get support from those who are positive forces in your life. Be it at work or in your personal life.
Identifying those individuals who bring you strength will help build your barriers to the person who challenges you with their toxicity.
Not only that, it is helpful to rely on the support around you to get a different perspective on the problem. Here you can get useful tips and ideas to help you deal with these bad people in your life.
Rate yourself
Finally, another important way to deal with bad people is to recognize your own worth. By acknowledging and owning your self-worth, you can build up your resistance to any toxicity being thrown at you.
Taking their comments and insults with a grain of salt will reduce the toxic person’s influence on you. Allowing you to raise your inner value above anything they say.
final thoughts
Learning how to deal with toxic people is, unfortunately, a skill we can all benefit from. Recognizing those who bring toxins into our lives and taking measures to reduce the negative impact on us is essential to our well-being.
