How to Not Take Things Personally

Written By Colēgia

Learning how to not take things personally is an incredibly useful life skill. Sometimes people may say things that we may not click with and rather than having it affect our well-being we need to be able to let it go. Today we want to cover some effective ways to do so and why it matters.

Tempering Our Expectations

One way to help with not taking things personally is by tempering our expectations. Most of the time, many people have good intentions. Sometimes they can be expressed in ways that we're not used to which can catch us off guard. One example of this is a concept known as tough love. This usually involves someone being direct to the point where it can affect us in other ways. If someone genuinely does come from a place of concern and care, they'll do their best to express that even if it can be hard to see at first. The important thing here is to recognize when someone is looking out for us vs when they have something else in mind. Our parents for example want us to succeed and they do want the best for us even if we feel differently at times. Being aware that people are different but still care is one such way to help with this.

“One way to help with not taking things personally is by tempering our expectations.”

Working Together

It's good to remember that communication requires both sides to work together to achieve the best possible result. While we can't directly control how someone else acts, we do have a say so in how we react to things. If we want to cooperate with others there eventually comes a point when we need to listen to what people say. Constructive criticism is a great example of this since it is made to help us improve at what we do. In a group setting constructive criticism allows us to see where our strengths and weaknesses are so we can best know how to contribute. Being able to learn how to sift through what we need to tweak vs what doesn't actually represent us can take effort, but it’s an important distinction.

“Constructive criticism is a great example of this since it is made to help us improve at what we do.”

It Leads to a Happier Life

If we want to live a happier life, not taking things personally is one of the best ways to do so. Our value isn't determined by things that others say about us. Rather, it's determined by how we feel about ourselves and our integrity. Having a healthy moral compass and living our lives in a manner that empowers ourselves and others is what happiness is really about. Being confident with who we takes self-awareness and the ability to shrug things off. For some of us, this may be easier to do. For others, we need to practice positive affirmations and reassure ourselves that we are loved even if something feels like it's directed at us. It's much easier to enjoy life when we're able to let things slide and focus on enjoying ourselves.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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