The 8 Types of People You Don't Need in Your Life
Have you ever stopped to think that some people are more hurtful than they are helpful? Maybe you haven’t noticed it, but you may have toxic people in your life.
“People can inspire you, or they can drain you; choose them carefully.”
-Hans Hensen-
Toxic people undermine your confidence, fill you with negativity, and betray your trust. Here are the eight types of people you don’t need in your life.
1. Those who only criticize
There is nothing bad about being honest and saying what you think. The problem starts when a person takes up an inappropriate portion of their time and energy in criticizing you without taking any action to remedy their complaints.
When criticism is not constructive in any way, you should not pay attention to it. If you don’t want to lose that friendship, explain to the person that their criticism doesn’t actually help you. If that doesn’t work, the best thing to do may be to put some space between you and that person.
2. Those who take up all your time
“I believe that is it very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone so as to not be defined but others.”
-Oscar Wilde-
The people that take up all your time might be family or friends, and they use your time without necessarily asking. The problem is not that they seek your help or support, but when you don’t receive the help and support you need in return.
The best thing to do is to reduce the time that you give to other people. They may feel offended or try to retain you, but you need to make sure that you are giving yourself time, too.
It’s a good idea to explain to them that you cannot give them all of your time and attention all the time. If this doesn’t work, find yourself a quiet, out of the way place to relax and turn your phone off.
3. Those who victimize themselves
There are people out there who enjoy the play the role of the victim. They never take responsibility for themselves nor for their mistakes.
If you have one of these people in your life, they will not miss any opportunity to make you feel like everything is your fault. Put a stop to it before they can start wrapping you up in their blame game.
To be able to do that, it is important to not implicate yourself in their game and to see the situation at hand from the outside looking to give yourself some perspective.
4. Those who do not show compassion or empathy
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”
-Dalai Lama-
One of the reasons why these kinds of people are not good to have in your life is that they are incapable of understanding your problems. In reality, they are not able to understand nor show support for anyone around them.
These people often have personality issues or narcissistic tendencies. You will realize that they are unable to put themselves in the shoes of others, a basic ability for ethical behavior.
5. Those who are negative
These people spread negativity as if it were a virus.
The best advice for dealing with this kind of person is to avoid them as much as possible. Once you come into contact with them, the relationship will become a downward spiral with no way out. They are always anxious, worried, pessimistic, depressing, and never stop complaining.
The primary reason these people hurt you is that they shorten you life by making you negative, too.
6. Those who are dishonest
“A lie can be told with words and with silence.”
-Adrienne Rich-
Some people who say that they are your friends have no problem gossiping and sharing your private information.
When you realize that you have friends like this, you may feel angry, or feel like ending the friendship. The trouble with dishonest people is that they can hurt you in many ways. Furthermore, they can hurt the other friendships you have by lying or spreading rumors.
The less information you share with these people the better. That is the best way to try and avoid these kinds of problems.
7. Those who manipulate or take advantage of you
Some false friends are only there when they need you. It doesn’t bother them to lie or to say anything to get what they want. They may tell you terrible stories that make you feel sorry for them just to increase their advantage over you.
Manipulative friends know how to get information from you to get to know your weaknesses and use them in their favor. They don’t have any issue with abusing your conscience or your generosity.
8. Those who act maliciously towards you
These people take advantage of anything in anyway to cause you pain. Maybe they don’t even notice it, but they leave a deep mark on your soul. They may be acquaintances, friends, or family members.
Do your parents criticize you every moment they can? Do you have a friend who, at every opportunity, makes comments that affect your self-esteem?
These people can cause you to doubt your honesty, strength, and abilities. They seek to gain attention and support, but they don’t know how to ask for these things. During their ‘learning process’, they can cause great harm; for that reason it is best to distance yourself.
Life itself is already a complicated thing, and becomes even more so when you have to be bound to these kinds of people.