In life and business you will have to learn how to get along with people. There is only so much you can do from behind a PC.
So it will be essential that you develop the skills to be able to get along with people in general.
The easiest way to do this is to avoid being negative with peoples opinions. I will digress:
There are two basic ways in which you can disagree with someone, one is that you believe the other person is wrong and the other is that you think he/she is right, but you consider it wrong in your own reality. The first method will get you into a lot of trouble, but the latter will help you build social relationships much easier.
Always remember that people generally say what they believe is right, therefore, in general, whether you think or say that they are wrong you are just banging your head against a brick wall. This person will not want to hear any negativity about their opinions, if you say something negative then their ears will start to close up and they will not listen to your point of view.
Let’s say for example that a good friend of yours says that Britney Spears has the greatest voice of all time. This may make you feel weak in the stomach at the mere thought of Britneys voice, but this doesn’t change the fact that this person’s opinion is 100% accurate.
What’s that? 100% accurate? you must be joking?
No I am not joking. In this persons opinion Britney Spears has the best voice on the planet! (re-read this sentence if necessary)
Any attempt to convince otherwise will have two awful consequences:
Firstly, the initial feeling towards you will be negative. This particular example is not very personal, it is not like your friend was discussing his/her religious beliefs, but in essence you are implying that he/she has poor taste and you are attacking his/her judgement skills.
Secondly, you have just increased a psychological barrier between you and your friend. Sub consciously you may start to think that your friend has no other insights of any worth, and that his/her opinions are not worth hearing anymore.
But don’t panic! there is a right way to handle this situation. Simply agree to the statement. This will strengthen your relationship and is the correct way to handle this scenario.
Ideally you should then try and change the subject as quickly as possible, just agree to disagree and move onto something else. After all, this is your friend, why destroy your social bond?
Think of this as a way to improve your social skills. If you find it very hard to agree with someone, then you need to work extra hard on this skill. Don’t elect to take the easy way out and dismiss this persons opinions, this will prevent you from being socially acceptable.
Writers note: I cannot force you to agree to the points in this article, it is your opinion and not mine. Feel free to believe that this article will help your personal development skills, or don’t. Either way, you are 100% correct.
By DeanHunt.com