Negative people drain your energy. That’s a fact.

Because no matter how good you are at focusing on the things that matter, or developing good habits, or leveraging your skills or things you’re good at, if ninety percent of your time is dealt with negative people, then you’ll never be happy, you’ll never achieve that progress or change you’re aiming for.

I know from my experience that it’s damn hard, especially if it’s a family member. But I have come to realize that in life, we have to make painful choices.

At times, we have to decide what we need to hold on and what we need to let go.

If you can’t drop negative people because they are your family, co-workers, boss, or best friend forever, so be it. That’s a brave move — I admire you. But don’t hate them for what they’re doing. Don’t expect that they’ll understand you. And don’t complain why you’re not moving forward towards your desired destination.

Can We Let Go Of Negative People?

Of course, yes.

I was once surrounded with people who are so negative by any means. It’s sad, frustrating, and sometimes chaotic. But when I started practicing letting go, the quality of my life has improved in ways I never thought possible. It was life-changing.

Letting go of negative or toxic people doesn’t mean forgetting them or pretending they don’t exist (albeit that could be another way). What I mean is to stop feeding their negativity, or their nonsense.

For example: If they keep telling you that you’ll never be successful because you’re not good enough, or because you married at a young age, or because you have no college degree, or because you’ve made huge mistakes, ignore it — smile if you can. Because once you respond and explain things over and over again, you allow them to fight back.

The point is to let go of the idea that you need to defend yourself from them — you don’t have to.

Instead, focus on what you want to achieve and continue standing for what you believe is right. As long as you’re not hurting people or the environment, then you need not be afraid.

In times like this, remember — and always remember — what Annie Dillard once said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

If you keep feeding negative people, then you’re wasting a valuable time of your life, which you can never ever get back.

Let go of them and move on. Only then will you be able to focus working on improving your life. And the bonus part is, once you let go of these people, positive ones will appear.