When someone feels inferior or slighted, they often express their feelings in the form of jealousy or hate. These feelings can cause uncomfortable situations and make you feel bad for your success. Confronting haters and jealous people head on and utilizing different strategies to help them overcome their jealousy will help you culture positive relationships.
1. Avoid taking it personally. Know that when a person is jealous of you, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. Be confident in yourself. Don’t allow a jealous person to affect your confidence or to create self doubt.
Keep doing what you’re doing, and don’t allow others to stop you.
Focus on people that support you.
Remind yourself that they’re jealous because you are doing something well.
2. Ignore the jealous and hateful comments. Although it’s hard to do, ignoring mean comments from jealous people tells them you are not going to validate their feelings
3. Address haters in your daily life head on. When ignoring someone is not an option, approaching the situation directly may help release the jealous tension. Have a conversation to confront them about their behavior.
“I want to have a positive working relationship; what can I do to help promote that environment?”
“While I appreciate your constructive criticisms, I feel that you sometimes come across a little harsh.” haters in your daily life head on.
4. Reduce your negative interactions with the person. If you can change your environment or social dynamics it will reduce the jealous person’s ability to influence you.
5. Hang out with people who support you, so the hater is less likely to confront you when you’re with a group.
When you see the jealous person, be the first to speak with a polite greeting then move on.
Become friends with their friends to make them feel like the outsider.
6. Set boundaries. Don’t feel like you have to continue to listen to a jealous person vent to you all the time. Set boundaries to distance yourself from the person. Make a mental time limit for how long you will engage with a negative person, then politely excuse yourself from the conversation.[4]
Give yourself 1 minute when you talk to them, then walk away saying “I need to go check something.”
Keep track of negative comments, and after 3, end the conversation.Change your routine so you don’t cross paths with the hater. Take a different path when walking, use a bathroom in another hallway, or see if you can switch your schedule to change classes or shifts.
by Ella Patterson
Good Morning Divas 