There are times when we must go through negative situations. Maybe people say something negative about us, or they show rejection or even resentment against us. In such situations, it may be difficult to stay positive. We may be inclined to react negatively to them. That won’t do us any good though; doing so will just make the situation worse. People may behave even more negatively to us. Our day would be filled with anger and disappointment. At the end, nobody wins.
Though it’s not easy, it’s important to stay positive in negative situations. Beat the negative situations by staying positive. Here are 15 tips on how to do it; pick the ones that work for you:
- Never respond when you are not calm. If you are not sure that you are calm, don’t respond. Take time to calm yourself down first.
- Take a deep breath as a first step to calm yourself down.
- Speak in gentle tone to reduce the tension of the situation.
- Realize that you can find opportunities in negative situations. Albert Einstein said: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
- Look at the content of what people say to you for something positive that you can act upon to improve yourself. Don’t just reject the whole messages.
- For the rest of the messages which is negative, simply ignore it.
- Maintain positive view of the people. Maybe you don’t like their messages or behavior, but that doesn’t mean that you can hate them personally.
- Realize that having negative feelings will just hurt you, not them. So there is no reason for you to have any negative feeling.
- If you make mistakes, be open to admit it.
- If you make mistakes, remember this quote by George Bernard Shaw: “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
- If you can, listen to motivational audio program to feed positive thoughts into your mind.
- Talk to a positive friend who can encourage you.
- Remember your favorite quotes to give you inspiration and motivation. This is one reason why you should have quote of the day.
- Look at the negative situations as your training sessions for real life. The higher you climb in life, the worse the negative situations would be, so you’d better be prepared for them.
- Realize that you can’t please everyone. In fact, nobody can. Sometimes you need to just let some people go. Realizing this will relieve you from a lot of unnecessary burden so that you can focus on the people that you can positively interact with.
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Comment by Donald Latumahina
9 5. October 2007, 10:17 am o'clock |
Thanks, Jane. It’s indeed great if everyone can learn them, but at least we can start with ourselves.
Comment by Jane
8 4. October 2007, 8:27 am o'clock |
great tips but only need that all people to learn this rules
Comment by Donald Latumahina
7 1. October 2007, 4:43 am o'clock |
Isadora,
You’re right, doing the tips in this post are easier said than done. And yes, there are things that we cannot control. I believe that we can always control our responses though. If we focus on what we can control we will be better and better in managing the situations.
Kenneth,
I agree with what you said. Having the right mindset is key. If we have the right mindset we can see the situations differently and even use them as opportunities to grow ourselves.
Comment by kenneth daniels
6 30. September 2007, 12:57 am o'clock |
I took alot from your post. I have a problem in a negative situation of taking it as a personal attack.
It could be critical information that I should grow from lf I just get
past the point of taking it personal.
I must realize I cannot please everyone & everyone is not looking out for my well being. In this world some people are sicker than others. I must cling to the positive & not let negative
people drag me down.
Every experience there is something to take from lt, even if I
have to meditate on it for awhile to figure out what it is
Comment by Isadora
5 16. September 2007, 8:54 pm o'clock |
But we must also realize that people can be evil and manipulative. They have their own motives as to their attitudes toward you. Realize that if you work under a woman a lot of “6th grade, she said, she did, crap” will inevitably follow. There is no advice out there to solve the boss’s mental issues. Just realize that no matter what they don’t dictate who you are! This article is filled with great advice but its easier said than done. Calm down, cry if you have to in privacy, take walk, come back to office without being seen by said mean person and get back to work… coffee is a comfort to me … even grabbing a bite to eat helps… you won’t want to eat, talk or look at anyone but let the moment pass…. put a smile on the next time you see them… it always confuses them as to why your no upset… thats my best advice that is left out from this article… use it wisely from one who got her position from the higher ups because I was more qualified than the boss’s best friend. Good Luck!
Comment by Donald Latumahina
4 12. September 2007, 1:05 pm o'clock |
Stephen,
You are right, knowing that we have such ability can greatly help us stay positive. We should not let situations take control of our life. Instead, we should take control of the situations by staying positive.
David,
I agree with you. Negative experiences may in fact teach us more than positive experiences. It is our attitude that should remain positive so that we can learn as much as possible from those negative experiences.
Comment by David
3 11. September 2007, 11:42 am o'clock |
Hi Donald! While living a life as near to positive as possible, negativity doesn’t have to have a clearly negative effect :)
By that I mean, a person grows not just from their positive experiences but also by the not so positive. We learn, therefore, from our “mistakes.” I agreed going off the deep end is not a great way to handle things, and I also know that sometimes “righteous?” anger can be a good thing even if in the moment it doesn’t seem like it.
Comment by @Stephen
2 11. September 2007, 5:59 am o'clock |
These are great tips, and I’d like to offer one more: always remember that even though you may be in a negative situation, you have the ability to remain positive in the first place. Knowing that possibility exists is half of the battle.
Pingback by How to Enjoy What You Are Doing No Matter What - lifehack.org
# 19. September 2007, 10:50 am o'clock |
[...] Donald Latumahina is an avid learner who blogs regularly about personal growth and effectiveness. Read his articles on 15 Tips to Stay Positive in Negative Situations, and 10 Ways to Increase Your Arbitrage Power. digg_url = ‘http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-to-enjoy-what-you-are-doing-no-matter-what.html’; ( function() { var ds=typeof digg_skin==’string’?digg_skin:”; var h=80; var w=52; if(ds==’compact’) { h=18; w=120; } var u=typeof digg_url==’string’?digg_url:(typeof DIGG_URL==’string’?DIGG_URL:window.location.href); document.write(”"); } )() Author: Donald Latumahina Posted: Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 10:50 am Tags: attitude, happiness, life, motivation Bookmark or Share this with a friend! [...]