How to Handle Negative People: 6 Strategies to Protect Your Peace
The Mel Robbins Podcast
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In this episode, you and I are talking about how to protect your peace.
You already spend a lot of time trying to be positive - so today I want to remind you that it is just as important to protect your energy from people and situations who suck it dry.
You know the ones.
The friend who is so negative about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!
The rude person at the coffee shop.
The colleague who’s always stirring the pot.
The toxic dynamic with certain family members.
Negative people are like dogs who have just jumped into a muddy pond. They come running up to you smelling all nasty and as soon as they get next to you - boom - they shake all that crap all over you.
It’s time to protect yourself.
Today’s podcast episode will teach you six super easy science-backed strategies to help you create an impenetrable force field against bad energy (and muddy dogs).
You can’t allow that crap to get on you - because your positive life force deserves your protection!
And today I’m teaching you how. Force fields up! Positive energy out!
Because that, my friend, is something to feel great about!
Xo Mel
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- 2:00: Jumping right in with Veronica’s question about emails that ruin her day.
- 3:50: You probably have your own stories of entitlement like this one.
- 7:30: This technique I use when somebody’s mood is getting all over me.
- 9:15: The “ snow globe” works best when you’re getting attitude.
- 12:30: I know this about people when they explode into a tantrum.
- 14:30: Science explains why our bodies stress when we’re around bad moods.
- 17:20: Work in a toxic environment? You have these two choices.
- 22:40: Dealing with a curmudgeon? I got you. Use the law of reciprocity.
- 26:00: Here’s how I melted the ice when I became a legal analyst with CNN.
- 29:30: Gossip is bad for your brain and body. Here’s why.
- 31:30: Here’s the #1 strategy to stop your gossip today.
- 33:30: Once you see triangulation, you’ll look at your relationships differently.
- 36:00: This one simple strategy can brighten someone’s day right now.
Have you been betrayed? Listen to “What to do when you’ve been cheated on.”
Need a confidence boost? Here’s your “Confidence Toolkit.”
Resources and go deeper:
- For Closed Captions: Watch on YouTube and turn on “CC.” For instructions to turn on closed captions, click here.
- Be careful. Emotions are contagious. Here’s why.
- Scientific American: Choose the company you keep wisely.
- University of Oxford: Teens catch bad moods more easily than good ones.
- National Geographic: Why bad moods spread easier.
- Durham University: Young children hear emotions; adults see them.
- I love these tips for fixing a sense of entitlement.
- University of CA, Berkeley: How a bad mood affects empathy in your brain.
- Psychology Today: Spotting emotional immaturity.
- Plos One: Stress effects on mood, your brain, and autonomic response.
- Workforce Institute: 69% of people say managers impact their mental health.
- Entrepreneur: Use the law of reciprocity to build better business relationships.
- HubSpot: 10 hard truths about management.
- National Public Radio: How the law of reciprocity binds us.
- National Library of Medicine: The neuroscience research of mirror neurons.
- NBC News: Smiling can trick your brain into happiness and boost your health.
- Harvard Business Review: How and why to build camaraderie at work.
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In The Mel Robbins Podcast, Mel takes you behind the scenes in real-time. Every episode is packed with tactical advice, hilarious screwups, compelling conversations, and the tools and inspiration you need to create a better life.
