Difficult People Killing Your Vibe? Empower Yourself Now With These 5 Easy Steps!

*Updated August 2024

Are difficult people killing your good vibes? Difficult people can bring you down and even wreak chaos in your life if you let them. So, it’s important for your mental health to learn how best to handle rude, unkind, or passive-aggressive personalities. Otherwise, they can put a damper on your good mood, take you out of presence, and and lower your vibrational frequency!

All of us, at one time or another, have been on the receiving end of a backhanded or unkind comment. And, even if someone is being honest, some thoughts are better left unsaid. However, difficult people will go out of their way to get a reaction or a rise out of you, and many times they do!

So, why do people behave this way? Most likely they are unhappy or have low self-esteem. But, there are some effective things you can do to empower yourself now!

Difficult People Killing Your Vibe? Empower Yourself Now With These 5 Easy Steps!

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Difficult Personalities

We have all had to deal with difficult people at one time or another. It could be a demanding boss, a coworker, a friend, relative, or even a spouse that leaves you feeling upset, angry, or frustrated after an encounter with them. So, it’s important to learn how to handle these interactions without taking them personally or becoming emotionally depleted.

Know that you can survive these unpleasant exchanges and keep your positive energy flowing. And, it helps to understanding who you’re dealing with. Here are the 5 main personality types to watch out for:

A Narcissist Personality

A narcissistic personality disorder can be extremely charming and friendly on the surface. However, they are completely self-absorbed and can’t see past their own wants and needs. Relationships with them are confusing and dysfunctional. That’s because they manipulate every situation to their benefit.

If you’ve ever been in a relationship with a narcissist, it can be a soul-crushing experience. (Read more about dealing with a this personality type here.)

The Taker

These are the people that feel entitled. Relationships are valued by what you can do for them. They use their aggressive personality and persistence to get what they want. And, if you’re an empath or a highly-sensitive person (HSP), you probably already go out of your way to avoid them.

The Green-Eyed Frenemy

These folks are envious of what others have. As a result, they often use conversations to brag and prove their worth. They want you to believe that they are better in some way in order to boost their ego. Their self-worth comes largely from material things. Therefore, this is what they talk about most often.

It can be hard to connect with them if you aren’t interested in small talk. And, cultivating an authentic relationship with them is especially difficult if you trigger their insecurities because they will always try to get “one up” on you.

The Complainer

Frequently called Debbie Downers, complainers talk about their problems on repeat. Conversations will inevitably circle back to them, which reinforces their behavior. Surprisingly, this person’s ego gets inflated by all of the attention.

Therefore, it’s almost impossible for them to stop, unless they begin to recognize this tendency in themselves. It’s an exhausting cycle and one that can deplete you of your positive energy.

The Gossip

Some people use gossip to connect with others and boost their ego. Unfortunately, this is a common way for people to communicate nowadays. And, we’ve actually become somewhat immune to it and have, unfortunately , normalized this behavior.

That’s because most forms of entertainment treat gossip as an acceptable form of communication. You can see examples of this virtually everywhere you look: social media, the news, reality television.

Gossiping is a low energy form of communication. It will lower your vibrational frequency and bring you bad karma. But, you do not have to respond or feed into the gossip. Instead, politely steer the conversation in a different direction as soon as possible. This is a great opportunity for you to strengthen your communication skills and find common ground.

Neutralize the Situation

Difficult people want to feed their ego while diminishing yours. So, how can you effectively deal with them? It may take a little time and effort, but here are 5 surefire ways to keep calm, cool, and collected.

1. Be an Observer

It may help to look a bit deeper by observing the other person objectively. Seeing someone from an observer’s point of view will give you clarity to understand why they behave in a particular way. You may even begin to feel empathy for them. However, that doesn’t mean you have to accept disrespectful, mean, or manipulative behavior.

2. Minimize Interactions

Reduce the amount of time spent in their company. When interactions with difficult people are necessary or unavoidable, don’t give your power away by responding angrily. Instead, rise above the negativity and stay true to who you are.

3. Maintain Boundaries

It’s common for difficult or demanding people to interrupt, use anger, or ignore you to manipulate or control. They often will gravitate toward people who are easy targets. So, you may have to speak up for yourself.

The key here is to do so when you are calm and grounded in the present moment. Only then will you be able to have a constructive conversation that leads to favorable results for you. So, when someone is being disrespectful, overbearing, or unkind, tell them in a polite, but firm, tone.

Don’t pretend toxic behavior is okay. So, find your voice even when it’s scary. You can do this! (If you need some motivation to find your voice, click here.) Keep in mind, through, that ignoring bad behavior is sometimes the best choice. Only you can decide when speaking up for yourself is necessary.

“What other people think of you is none of your business.

Regina Brett

4. Don’t Take Anything Personally

Rude, aggressive, or passive-aggressive people are compensating for their own unhappiness or insecurity. So, don’t take it to heart. Whenever someone triggers a negative response in you, understand that it’s your ego reacting, not your deeper self. Put it into perspective and move on.

If you’d like more insight into how not to take things personally, I suggest you read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It was a life-changing book for me, and may help you see the world through a new lens.

“Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”

Don Miguel Ruiz

5. Use Humor

If at all possible, don’t react with negativity. This will only cause the situation to get worse. Laugh it off or even agree. Whether it’s a rude remark or you’re the subject of gossip, learn to take the attention in stride. It speaks volumes about the other person’s state of mind; how you react speaks volumes about yours!

Codependent Personality?

If these situations happen to you often, it may be worth examining whether you are sending out codependent signals. If a person feels as though they can “get away with” treating you poorly, they will continue to do so.

So, ask yourself if you’re allowing (in a sense) people to treat you in this manner. Are you treating yourself with kindness and compassion by setting boundaries? Is the inner voice in your head helpful and positive or hurtful and negative? What kinds of vibes are you sending out to the Universe? Going inward to connect to self is always a good thing in any case.

I am not by any means suggesting that your interactions with difficult, unkind people are your fault. However, it is always healthy to look at our own behaviors through the lens of personal development. We are all here to grow, learn, and deepen our understanding of self and the world around us.

Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

Maggie Kuhn

Healthy Boundaries

The solution maybe as simple as setting healthy boundaries in your relationships or having the courage to find your voice in difficult situations.

However, keep in mind that it’s never your fault when people treat you poorly, but it is your responsibility to stand up for yourself in an effective way. Finding your voice can be scary, but you have the courage to do it!

This is something I’ve had to work on in my personal life. It can be challenging and it takes time to re-establish the balance of power in a relationship. Difficult people will push back, get angry, and try to make you believe that everything is your fault. When this happens, stand your ground and don’t feed into the drama. It will pass. And soon, people will start to see you in a different light.

Over time, they will come to understand that you no longer tolerate bad behavior. Soon, they will stop altogether. Or, your new, higher vibrational frequency will physically remove you from an unhealthy situation. And, you will find yourself surrounded by more like-minded people who respect you and your boundaries!

With practice, these situations will affect you less and less, and then not at all. When people no longer get the reaction they want, they’ll move on to someone else.

What are some effective things that you do to deal with difficult people? Please share below and let’s get the conversation started. Your comments add value to our community and I always love hearing from you!

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