Negativity in Work Articles | Entrepreneur

By: Richard Butler

Overcoming a negative work place

Let’s face it we’ve all worked in places filled by negative people. You walk into the canteen, lunch hall or wherever you all meet, and you can nearly feel the negativity in the room the minute you walk in.

It’s horrible and oppressive, and one danger is that you may feel “well if I can’t beat em I’ll join them”. The problem here is you get dragged down to their level and become one of them!

If you go in and be upbeat, they then think there’s something wrong with you or you are on drugs! You see many people don’t like others that are not like them, who do things that are different to them. Why is this so? Simply because you show them up. Negative people will always drag you down.

I’ve heard stories of people loosing “friends” once they become successful. Their friends can’t cope with the new found success, the fact that someone took a risk and it paid off. Some of these people will think “who the hell are they to be rich”. This is not because the successful person has changed, simply that the unsuccessful person feels intimidated by their successful friend.

Many times people will drag you down simply because your success makes them feel inadequate.

So what can you do?

Try not to get involved in negative areas of your work place – this may mean going out for a walk at lunch time, going to the shops, or simply avoiding the negative area.

A more drastic move is to try to find a new job. Remember where ever you go you will find negative people.

One strategy you can use is to say to people, I respect your point of view, however I see things differently. Never argue, simply respect them and move on.

Working in a negative atmosphere can be soul destroying experience. The dread of going in every day wondering what negativity awaits, is the worst feeling in the world.

Here’s my top 5 tips to beat that negative feeling

1. Remember negative people can’t make you feel negative – you have the ability to choose how you feel about everything. So remember to choose to let their negativity bounce off you rather than to suck you in.
2. Avoid the negative area/people/situation – rather than go in to the canteen, staff room etc, go out for a walk, sit in the car, listen to some music, read a book – just don’t go where the negative people are.
3. Remain positive – don’t let others see you as anything but positive. This will probably annoy them even more but you know that you are positive and happy. These negative people are just unhappy in themselves and will always bring others down
4. Fill yourself with positivity – read success books, listen to tapes, cds etc that give positive messages. Too many people don’t do this. They fill themselves with negativity by reading negative reports in the media, listening to the news etc. I don’t mean that you hide away from the world but choose what you fill your life with
5. Take time to yourself. It’s good to take time out and just be. Make sure you take at least 20 minutes a day just to reflect and contemplate about your life and yourself