The art of subtle bullying – how to identify it and how to deal with it

Bullies don’t always act directly. Some bullies want to make sure no body knows that they have such intent. They can bully you in a way that no one notices but inside they may be tearing you apart. Such bullies torture you subtly but constantly and so powerfully that it might affect you emotionally and lower your productivity at workplace, school or even at home.

How to identify it ?

Isolating you :

Subtle bullying can happen almost anywhere. If you are in a group, say group of friends or at workplace, you might be isolated from that group, you might not be invited for parties or events. And the bullies make sure you get to know that you are not invited in the most subtle way after the event and you end up thinking about the reasons for not getting the invite the whole day.

Criticizing your talent :

Getting destructive criticism constantly for the work you do could be the biggest heart-break. Some people make sure that you never shine in your life by constantly putting you under self-doubt. Such bullies magnify your negatives and conveniently forget your positives and strengths. These people never in their life appreciate good things and they want you to be few steps behind them always.

Sabotaging your reputation :

This is another awesome way of putting people down. Some bullies keep bad-mouthing about others to friends and colleagues all the time and they feel so good about it. It always happens at workplace and might even put your career at stake.

Taking credits for your efforts :

These people always pay attention to what you do so that they can compete with you and copy whatever you do and might even take credits for your work and ideas. They also want to make sure you never go a step ahead of them. It’s because they can never stand you achieving great heights. This person could be even your long term childhood friend.

How to deal with it ?

1. Do not trust everybody blindly.
2. Trust your intuition. If it says to stay away from someone, please do.
3. If you understand someone is bullying you indirectly, make sure the person knows you are not affected by it.
4. Build a strong group of trust-worthy friends and let the bully not enter your gang.
5. Ignore negativity and toxicity.
6. Be confident and never be a victim of self-doubts
7. Trust your capabilities and talents more than someone else’s criticism.
8. If someone puts you down, stand-up for yourself. Do not encourage him by keeping quiet.
9. Do not discuss your plans and goals with everybody. This will make the job easy for people to steal your ideas and take credits.
10. Always keep your vision and dreams really big and work for it continuously so that you don’t have time to think about such narrow-minded people.

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