I recently spoke at the Watonwan County Corn & Soybean Growers Annual Meeting. This was the fourth time I have delivered a presentation to this group. It is always a lot of fun because I grew up in Watonwan County and knew nearly everybody in the room. I grew up on a hog and dairy farm where we grew corn and soybeans. Often, corn and soybean growers are at the mercy of commodity prices and exports. Currently both are down; and so are the farmers. One of the 55 strategies to Recharge and Remain Resilient I suggested was to avoid negative people.
Negative people can be physically, psychologically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually draining. Negative people can be one of life’s biggest stressors.
Both personally and professionally, be careful how much time and effort you invest in a relationship with a negative person. Identify boundaries that will minimize the damage. Boundaries may include limits on actions, physical space, conversational topics, expression of certain emotions, and how topics are handled.
Emotional contagion is the process by which emotions are transferred from one person to another. You catch the mood or attitude of another. It’s like catching a virus. Negativity creates barriers to positive change, blocks productivity, and kills morale.
If you have to interact with negative people, minimize your exposure, and have a survival kit available to pick yourself back up emotionally and mentally. I keep a “survival kit” handy. I carry along a favorite photo of myself when I was young and believed I was invincible, a list of things I love to do, and a list of things I am thankful for. Just reviewing these items lifts my spirits.
Negative people can drag you down and cause you stress. If you must interact with them, try to side-step the negativity, and prepare your own “survival kit” to pick yourself back up quickly.