Whether you like it or not the types of people you hang around and associate with in life can make or break you. Hang around with successful, enthusiastic and optimistic individuals and you’ll start thinking and acting in a similar manner. (But you knew that already, right?)
Hang around with deadbeats and energy leeches on the other hand and you’ll end up like one in no time. Worst of all they suck the joy and happiness out of your life.
Yep, the people you associate with definitely have an impact on you, your attitude and outlook on life.
Without taking anymore of your valuable time, lets delve right into the types of people that will sabotage your drive and desire for success and happiness.
The Schemers/Users
These people are a real nasty bunch. The kind that resorts to scamming, manipulation and trickery to get their way in life, whether it’s in business or relationships.
They’ll lie through their teeth to get what they want.
Schemers have one goal and come from one frame of mind. “Screw everyone else, I only care about me at the expense of everything and everyone else around me.”
They’re the guys or gals always backstabbing others to get in the bosses good books at the office.
They pretend to be friends with you, but secretly behind your back they’re really just using you to suit and fulfil their own devilish desires.
Problem is, the world’s full of them. Best thing to do is just avoid them. Don’t be around them and you won’t expose yourself to any of their negative crap.
How can you tell if someone’s a schemer?
Excellent question. Stay sharp and look out for the following signs:
- Those who gossip and spread rumors about others.
- Those who try and get you to come around to their way of thinking, without justifiable reason.
- One sided conversations, where everything is focused on them and their problems and how you can help them. (These people expect you to help solve their issues, while never even considering you).
The bottom line is schemers always have a hidden agenda.
The Short-sighted/ Naysayers
Next on the list, you guessed it. The short-sighted. These people have a very limited perception of the world. They’ll really dampen your mood and enthusiasm.
As a result of their narrow mindedness they can’t imagine anyone else having a more positive attitude and success than themselves.
These people will crush your dreams and drive for success faster than grapes in a vineyard.
They’ll try and dissuade you from your pursuits.
Some of the common statements you’ll hear from them go along the lines of:
- “Be realistic”
- “Stop dreaming”
- “You’ll never be able to do that”
These people love labels and they’ll label you “dreamer” or “insane” because you refuse to accept anything less than you know you’re worth. Pay no attention to folks like this.
If you do unfortunately come into contact with them, just laugh off any of the pathetic statements and drivel that comes out of their mouths.
Keep believing in yourself and pushing forward, and when you achieve your goals, let them wonder how you did it.
The Losers
Lastly, we come to the good old loser. The way to identify these individuals is generally by their failures and clear displays of lagging self-belief and feelings of unworthiness.
People that are unwilling to help themselves are not worthy of respect or help from anyone.
As you ascend the success ladder, your ability to identify these individuals will become more pronounced. As a general guideline, losers tend to have a pessimistic outlook towards life.
It’s all in the mentality of the individual. If you believe in yourself and see yourself highly you’re already steering clear of the loser trap. You’ll tend to find you’ll start to automatically meet and associate with people who have an optimistic attitude to life. Like attracts like.
THINK LIKE A WINNER, BECOME A WINNER.
It pays big time to devote a little extra attention to your social circles and get to really know the people around you, like your colleagues, co-workers, friends and heck even family. You need to assess for yourself if they really have any care and value for you as a person.
One thing is certain if you mix with the types of people listed above they’ll drain you of your positivity, happiness, and optimistic attitude to life. They’ll suck all your energy and drive you mad. (Something I cover, plus more in my soon to be released book on happiness).
If you take anything away from this article, make it this….
CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS CAREFULLY.
They have an impact on and say more about you than you may realise.
FRIENDSHIP AND HAPPINESS
An excellent and well written article. Unfortunately, our paths do inherently cross manipulative and ill willed individuals. Your article prominently highlights the testaments which echo success and perseverance. I personally feel as a society our values and perceptions of success have been distorted, and empathy as well as emotional intellect has been stripped from our contextual reference. When a Schemer/Naysayer/Loser comes in contact with us, our initial protocol should be to raise their awareness, and train their empathy. If this fails…KEEP AWAY!!!!!
Cheers for stopping by. Appreciate you taking the time to give your take. That’s a valid point. Yep, it’s pretty darn likely we’ll all encounter the aforementioned individuals from time to time. The world’s full of them after all. The reality is that most of these individuals, as much as you try and reason with them and attempt to better them are simply not going to change. At times it feels like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. You’d probably have better luck getting a sign from god than changing these people. That’s not to say it can’t happen, but for the majority it won’t. At the end of the day change has to come from within.
Awesome, informative post. I’ve dealt with many of these people. It’s true they’re everywhere so there’s no completely avoiding them per say, but I get where this post is coming from. You can avoid the negativity and crap that they bring. I personally use a three strikes and you’re out rule. I don’t tolerate nonsense. Great work mate.
Great to hear from you. The truth is, if you know and understand the types of people out there, and more importantly what signs to look for, you’ll be able to avoid them. You won’t have to engage and entertain their conversations. Now I’m not saying that you’ll never bump into those kinds of people. Of course you will. The sharks are everywhere. But that doesn’t mean you can’t avoid them.
You have choices at the end of the day. You simply choose to associate with the individuals mentioned in the article or you don’t. Either way, the consequences of your decision, whether negative or positive are yours alone to deal with.
Hello GURJOT,
Can’t wait for your book to come out because if it is anything like this enlighting article then I must buy and read. I love the title of your blog. I am going to print this page and hand out to my students. You give us a little lesson on how to piece together some basic survival skill for successfull living with this article. Please keep many more coming.
Awesome to hear from you and I’m glad you like the article and find it useful. Appreciate the interest in the book. It’s in the making and on the way. If you liked this article, you won’t be disappointed with the book.Stay sharp, more great articles like this on the way.
Speaking of quality content, you’ve got some great stuff on your site.