When you associate with someone who is always being negative, it is easy to go to their level.

I first came across this when I was 16 years of age at boarding school. I was placed in a dorm with 3 other boys. I was told the idea was for my quiet nature to have a positive effect on them.

Well, it didn’t. I went to their level and got into trouble.

I now see many people who complain their partner is negative, their work is negative, or they have a negative friend.

When you exist in a negative environment, it is easy to start complaining about how bad things are. You then start looking for the negative … you start talking about the negative … and then you become just like the negative person.

Remember, what you focus on is what you get or what you become.

Many a person makes the mistake of saying how much they hate someone. Ironically, the more they talk about this person, the more they become just like them. You are keeping their behaviour at the forefront of your mind.

If you work with negative people, instead of getting involved with the negativity and how bad it is, focus on what you like about your job. Give energy to the things that make you feel good and ignore the rest.

If you hate someone, this makes you a hateful person. Cease giving energy to this person and either focus on the people you love or the good points this person has.

Do you have a friend that is very negative? I once advised a client to ask his ‘negative friend’ if there was anything positive happening in his life. This made his friend think and come up with something. Each time his friend was negative, my client asked him if there was anything positive. The friend quickly changed as he could predict the question coming his way if he was negative!

A great quote from Dr Wayne Dyer – “When you change the way you look at things, the things that you look at, change”.

Be true to yourself and how you want to feel. You don’t have to change others. That’s their job. By staying positive, you receive the benefit and others will gravitate to your level.

In summary, give energy to the things that light you up.

Practice finding the positive to people, places and situations.