April 8, 2009
Culling the Herd
There are some great time wasters out there - TV comes to mind - but there is something else that I think is an even greater waste. People - specifically ignorant, stuck in the mud, unhappy with their own lot so they need to bring everyone else down type of people. People who don't understand you or what you are trying to accomplish and have no compunction about letting you know. You can argue back and forth with these people for hours and they still hang about refusing to be convinced, but aren't willing to agree to disagree.
My solution: kick them to the curb. You don't have the time or energy to deal with these ignorant, time-sucking vultures. In your personal inventory of friends or associates (or social networking gateway - Facebook, MySpace, etc) hit delete. What if they are life long friends or even family? Well, then don't hit delete, but avoid contact with them as much as possible at least until you get to where you want to go. Then you can resume regular contact with them, but I suspect by that time you will have changed enough that they won't bother you or you won't even like them anymore.
The amount of mental energy consumed in dealing with these people is time better spent on building a business, pursuing your hobbies, spending time with those you love and don't cause you aggro, or on social projects to better the world.
In order to build a better life. Sometimes you have destroy a little bit of the life you already have.
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Filed under Freedom, Self Improvement, You by Steven Lohrenz
Comments on Culling the Herd »
Kimber @ 1:54 pm
I know what you mean! I have people people that I seldomly talk to on Facebook that are a total distraction. The best part is when they find out that you offer a service that the all of a sudden need. Because they are your friend on Facebook, they think they're going to get a great break or some deal. I tell them straight up that I charge $x per hour and I don't beat around the bush. Those people annoy the hell out of me.
Myspace layouts 2.0 @ 5:43 pm
nice article :). That puts the nail on the head
Mohibkh from Rom machine @ 9:31 am
HI dude it is very useful post. i gain some knowledge from here.
Thanks for sharing with us….
Shaz from Photoshop Tutorials @ 10:58 am
wow very straight forward article, hahaha nice, BULLS EYE!
Tim from Bukisa Reviews @ 1:38 am
Negative people are such a time suck. They can be such a pain in the butt to get rid of too as well.
James from 32 LCD TV @ 6:49 am
Pretty harsh but true. I work in AM and one of my friends had nothing good to say about what I do; "everyone's doing it", "others will overtake you" etc etc. I stopped talking to him about my online business for about 6 months. Now he has a more rounded view. I think he got the message.
ick from RTamrac Velocity @ 2:10 pm
It's like religion and politics. They're actually compelling topics but it's hard to prevent a slide into where it could get confrontational and personal. I'd love a civil discourse on the subjects but you have to select your interlocutors carefully. Still, isn't this one of the hazards of engaging in a public forum for discourse. You know, even a "pig with the lipstick" has an opinion.
Rob from Figurines @ 4:52 pm
Well said. It has become so much more necessary in the online era of instant communication.
But I think I can also apply it in my world - collectibles. When you get to the point that you spend more time maintaining your collection then enjoying your collectibles, it's time to purge a few of them from your life.
Ryan from Scripps Ranch real estate @ 4:33 am
It seems that you've got a bad time with someone lol. Well I've been part of few discussions as well which have ended to no solution and rather we had to stop so we don't fight each other. It happens, on Orkut also I've been involved in few discussions and yeah it does take up a lot of mental energy but it sorts of raises your tolerance level as well. Such people are on work as well and you've to tolerate them happily and accept them as they're. That's human nature. We all not are perfect
and ignorance is common everywhere today.
Jannice from Social Networking @ 5:40 pm
Well for me, those kind of people happen to be my close relatives (at least not my wife though). I know exactly how it feels and like you said, I don't spend too much time with them about virtually anything because of the level of mentality I have compared to them. I hate being pulled down coz I get pissed off but I feel more challenged.
Janneth from Work at Home @ 11:32 am
Great article. I agree about destroying a little bit of the life we already have in order for us to reach our goals because not all the people around us are pushing us. Most of them are pulling us! so watch out!
Hnr1e @ 8:43 am
I have this one guy at work. It doesn't matter how silly his arguments are, he will never, under any circumstances agree with us. No matter how obvious it is that he is wrong about something. I really annoys me.
San Diego Real Estate Agent @ 5:46 pm
Culling out inactive Twitter friends is particularly important. It will really weigh down your popularity if you don't keep an eye on tweet activity.
Joe from Roleplaying Blogs @ 11:33 pm
Time vampires are evil indeed. They are a close relative of the Crab Bucket Villager.
Henne from Jewelry cleaning at home @ 5:57 am
I always try to avoid people that only waste my time or irritates me, but it's hard since you want to be nice yourself. More subtle way, like deleting them on facebbok suits me better!
from short default layouts @ 1:58 am
Bookmarked, thanks.