We live in a complex time. If you listen to the news regularly, it’s mostly bad. Pandemics, shootings, racial injustice, political fighting, environmental catastrophes; it’s a wonder we don’t all live in a constant state of depression.  

There are a lot of factors we do not have control over. It’s not worth spending time obsessing about these as there is very little we can do to change them. In my Surmani Business Coaching article on How to Maintain Overall Happiness in 2021, I talked about many factors that we do have control over in order to maintain happiness in our own environments. Another major way to improve happiness is to shield yourself from negative people.

This should be an easy thing to do. Of course, if we have a family member or boss who is a negative person, it may be difficult to stay away from these people. You can, of course, leave your job and find a better working environment. Family is more difficult, but spending less time with a negative family member might be an option. I had a harder time distancing myself from negative people when I was younger, and still building my career and network. As I got older it has become much easier. At some point in your life you realize that when it comes to friends and allies, it is not about quantity, but quality. 

The fact is that we don’t have an endless supply of time. Time to spend with the most important people in our life. The easiest way to solve that problem is to cut those people from your life who only bring negativity. Who needs it? You feel bad when you are around them. They waste your precious time with victimhood and drama, and they don’t add anything positive to your life or environment. If you exclude them from your life, you gain more time to spend with the ones you care about.

Think of it as pruning a rose bush. If you cut off the dead branches, the rest of the plant can grow strong and beautiful. This must be done to maintain happiness in the part of your environment that you do have control over. 

You may experience the same thing with the occasional business employee who exhibits great skill at detecting and reporting problems without offering any solutions. You want employees who will see challenges and bring you a few workable solutions to help navigate the issues to improve performance. That’s a lot better than just dumping a problem on you to solve.

Strive to think differently and don’t buy into or accept negativity from others. Look for positivity in both your life and in your business. Get rid of the negative people and nurture the positive people. This is the key to improving your business and your life.

 “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” — Michael Jordan