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How to Not Let Others Affect Your Mood

It's important not to let other people affect your mood. Some people are projectors and have to share every emotion, whether or not you want to share their experience: When they feel miserable, you feel miserable. To stop yourself from being affected by other people’s moods, take control of your own emotions first.

  1. Be Happy

    • When you make the conscious decision to be happy, you change your whole outlook. Figure out what you need in life to make you happy and actively pursue those goals. Search out happy people with whom to hang around. When a situation doesn’t go the way you planned, don’t wallow in negative feelings; instead, figure out what you can do to fix the situation.

    Remain Detached

    • Don’t let minor setbacks affect your positive outlook. Don’t become emotionally invested in situations over which you have no control or over things that don’t really concern you. Make the intellectual decision to remain neutral and unaffected by other people’s drama and negative attitudes — in other words, “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

    Avoid Negative People

    • The most drastic action you can take, if all other methods fail, is to avoid anyone who brings you down. If you can’t stay away from that individual, do your best to ignore him. If you have to deal with him for work or family issues, keep your contact with him to a minimum. Be polite — there’s no point making the situation worse with your own negative attitude. If the person is a co-worker and his negativity is affecting your work, talk to your supervisor to see if you can move your desk or office away from that person or switch to a different department or team.

    Consequences of a Negative Attitude

    • A negative attitude can lead to depression, anxiety, ill health and a generally miserable existence. People with negative outlooks blame others for their failures and don’t take the steps necessary to care for themselves in the event of illness or disease because they have no hope. Aside from the effects this negative attitude has on them, their behavior and outward attitude also influence the people around them.

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