- Make someone feel worse for something they already feel bad about. Usually people know when they screw up, but in case they don't, make that your job.
- Always find the negative in every situation. This will effectively cause people to not want to talk to you about things they are excited about.
- Make someone feel small, so you can feel big. When you're insecure, this will help you feel better about yourself.
- Always look for the opportunity to be able to say, “I told you so”. This will help you appear smarter than you really are.
- Burst people's bubbles with “welcome to the real world”-type comments. This will help you feel better about your own disappointments.
- Never encourage people or affirm their strengths. You're doing them a favour by making sure they never become proud.
- Don't acknowledge or validate people's disappointment or pain. You're doing them a favour by helping them not wallow in it.
- Default to “no” unless you have good reasons to say “yes”. Life is usually too easy for some people, so we're really helping them by making it a bit harder.
- Point out other people’s mistakes or imperfections. This is a really effective way to motivate people to improve… and it will help you feel better about yourself.
- And, most importantly… try to never empathize with people. It makes all of the above much easier.
Dave Blundell
Executive Director
No items found.
