It is true that good companions raise us to become better people. However, we are sometimes unaware of the negative personalities of some of our entourage who could potentially pull us down. Like it or not, Jim Rohn makes it clear that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.
"People inspire you or they drain you. Pick them wisely." - Hans F. Hansen
We all had at some point in our lives, a toxic person around us. A person with whom we feel bad so much it transmits us its negative energy. A person who has no qualms about using us and who keeps us at his mercy without us realizing it. To be able to avoid this type of person, one must first identify them and to do so, here are five of the most common types of toxic personalities.
The opportunists
There are many types of opportunists, but we will focus on two of them that are the most common: manipulators and those who seek to pity you. The former take advantage of their social status, skills or abilities to make you feel inferior or dependent on them. They can adopt a dominant attitude to allow you to fulfill their wishes, even if you do not want it. On the other hand, people who seek mercy usually want to tap into your empathy to make you solve their problems for them, or force you to help them.
While it is never wrong to help a friend through a difficult time, it is important to be wary when this becomes too frequent or permanent.
The sloths
Laziness is a very contagious disorder and even the strongest people can fall into this trap when they are constantly surrounded by lazy people. Interactions with these types of people can result in a decrease in your own productivity. Once you have identified one of these types of toxic people in your life, it's a good idea to start avoiding them to prevent them from negatively influencing your decisions or your work. It's not always easy to overcome their manipulation, but it's healthier for your overall balance.
The jealous
A jealous person will always try to find allies. She poisons others with her words and actions. This type of person is never happy. They always want what others have. It is easy to detect this type of person. The important thing is to know how to get away from it, do not let them influence you with their toxic thoughts. You must try as much as you can to ignore them.
The pessimists
As the name suggests, pessimists see everything in a negative light. These are people who see everything black and they give up very easily. This attitude attracts more negativity and thus turns into a vicious circle. They portray themselves as defenseless victims and constantly complain about their past, their present, and their likely future.
You must move away from this type of people. It does not matter how much you try to show them that everything is not as bad as it looks, they will be able to feed on your positivity to feel good about themselves. The consequence is that you will not feel so good anymore. These people are also known as "emotional vampires".
Sociopaths
This is one of the most dangerous toxic personalities. They are impulsive people who have no emotional limits and do not feel remorse when they hurt others. They are usually ambitious people who achieve their goals without worrying about the ones they are destroying along the way. They are also unable to apologize.
Sociopaths are people who look charming and who will tell you everything you want to hear. They tend to be very interested in the person, asking lots of questions to get information that they will store for later use. With that, they will lie and deceive to get what they want. They will feign emotions they do not feel, all in all it's the opposite of an empathic person.
How can we recognize a sociopath? We must be very attentive. Since they do not feel emotions, we need to look at their face, appearance, and facial muscles. If they concentrate their eyes on you and do not even move a single muscle of their face, be careful: they probably handle you.
