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How to Deal With Bullies

Posted: 10/18/11 10:35 AM ET

If you're someone who aspires to something beyond the ordinary, you must have figured out by now that there will always be those who are jealous or resentful of your success.

It doesn't matter that you've worked long and hard to get where you are, nor that you've made great sacrifices in achieving your goals. The "haters" will always find a reason to criticize and even condemn you.

They're spiteful people who begrudge you the pride you have in yourself and the recognition you're receiving from others. They can't stand it that you're happy, fulfilled and achieving your goals.

These hateful individuals are unwilling to do the work that you've done; they rarely make the same kinds of sacrifices or put in the long, hard hours. They resent your success but are too lazy or spoiled to invest real time or energy in the pursuit of their own goals.

It's true that we aren't always going to succeed in our ventures, even if we put in the time and effort. Results are never guaranteed and life has a way of throwing curve balls at us.

Still, if we're in the habit of working hard and doing what has to be done, it's a lot more likely that we'll achieve a certain measure of success, especially if we have a tendency to persevere.

Successful people aren't without flaws and like any other person can make mistakes, but it's not necessary for others to be constantly on the lookout for what might be wrong with your words, weight, wardrobe, haircut or date for the evening.

It's gratuitously cruel when total strangers, who have almost no idea of who you are, take advantage of social media to point your real or imagined failings for all to see. Most of all it's petty and cowardly.

The haters hide behind their pseudonyms, sending out their poison pen missives under the cover of anonymity. They'd do better to use their energy for something more worthwhile, such as pursuing their own success, for example.

I loved it when Tina Fey went up to collect her Golden Globe and held it high, saying, "This is for all the haters!" She's a good example of a talented, hard-working and successful person who's received an inordinate amount of negative press. Ms. Fey may be besieged by haters but she refuses to let them get to her.

The thing you need to know about these haters is that the only reason they behave this way is that you have something they want but they aren't willing to work for it.

The haters are convinced that you've been lucky or that you've had some unfair advantage but the truth is that your success is born of your untiring efforts, and it's these efforts that have brought about your "luck."

The best way to deal with haters is what I call the "one-two punch." First, don't let them phase you. Be happy about your success and proud of your accomplishments. Let in the approval and the recognition from affirming, supportive people and never doubt that you deserve all this. The haters are angry, jealous people. What they think or say is ultimately meaningless.

Next, the more the haters harass you, the more you should be motivated to succeed. They want to undermine you but your response should be to work that much harder in order to increase your level of success.

When your reaction to their hostility has inspired you to achieve further success, you've transformed the haters' negativity into fuel for your creative fires. Not only can they not hurt you but they've inadvertently spurred you on to even greater heights.

 
 
 

Follow Marcia Sirota on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@rcinstitute

If you're someone who aspires to something beyond the ordinary, you must have figured out by now that there will always be those who are jealous or resentful of your success. It doesn't matter that ...
If you're someone who aspires to something beyond the ordinary, you must have figured out by now that there will always be those who are jealous or resentful of your success. It doesn't matter that ...
 
 
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01:35 AM on 10/21/2011
I agree that the more successful one gets, the more motivated insecure people are to try and take them down a notch in order to improve their own self-esteem. If you are a public person, you'll also be subject to the random ranting that occurs on the internet at all hours of the day or night. People rant and vent out here at EVERYONE. Even if I post a comment on YouTube about a video I like, and someone else hates it, I can get attacked with grammatically incorrect venom. I think that your "two punch" advice is good for anyone who is up against the kind of harsh criticism that exists just to make the critic feel superior at someone else's defense. Also, I do think it's weird that the editors gave your essay this particular title, but at the same time I can't understand why anyone would write a long comment complaining about it. If I started reading something that wasn't what I'd expected based on the title, and I dislike reading it, I'd just close the screen.
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Marcia Sirota
09:12 PM on 11/22/2011
Thanks, I appreciate what you had to say.
05:07 AM on 10/19/2011
Marcia, I am so glad to have read your article; it was just what I needed to learn. For a long time I never knew just "what to do" or "how to handle" such bullies as you described, now I know. I used to believe they were bullying me because they didn't get enough attention from their parents and because I am usually shy and quiet I was easy for them to target for attention for themselves.

The only question is: why do bullies like to waste their time and energy in constantly bullying the person they are hateful or jealous of? How do you get them to stay focused on themselves instead of those they envy, hate or resent? If you don't answer, it's o.k. because you already gave me the advice I needed.

I hope to see more articles from you in the future. You are fanned.
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Marcia Sirota
09:14 PM on 11/01/2011
You might want to refer to my earlier HuffPost blog, called "How to Reform a Bully." I think I answer some of your questions in it.
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Helen In Canada
05:31 PM on 10/18/2011
Whoops, I thought it would be advice about kids being harassed and tormented. Nevertheless, some interesting and helpful points for one's self-esteem and staying focussed. My first thought, though, is referring to someone as "ordinary" is a little...condescending in itself. Perhaps that is what (adult) haters are responding to...that type of judgement? I don't know, it could just be a reaction to explain why others would not be so cheerleading or supportive of everything one does.
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rcinstitute
Psychiatrist and Author
05:53 PM on 10/18/2011
I'm sorry. I submitted the blog as "The haters and how to deal with them." For some reason, the editors changed the title. I, too, think it's a bit misleading and I apologize for the confusion. By the way, I wasn't referring to other people as ordinary but to the aspirations of some of us to go beyond the ordinary dreams of basic security and contentment.
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Helen In Canada
06:01 PM on 10/18/2011
Thank you for your reply! I appreciate your explanation of using the word "ordinary" to describe people and their values. I've had this irritation with leaders/politicians who also use the word to describe people who aren't in politics. In my book, every individual is unique and has different strengths and qualities to offer up. Without "ordinary" people, so much of the necessary work in this society would never get done! Must be recognized as such. And now I've gone off topic!
02:56 PM on 10/18/2011
When I read the title I thought this was about grammar school bullies and getting towel whipped on your bare naked buttox by bulldog faced bruisers. Or maybe it was about teenage girls creating a cabal of witchery and abuse against a misunderstood misfit would be girl friend. No. Or maybe it was about people who bully others into doing or saying something they don’t mean like Swiftboaters during the presidential election or the CIA banging on the chad counters doors.

Instead I read this vague spiraling monologue about people who are critical of a million dollar professional entertainer’s public yearning career efforts.

Mmmmmm okay.

Haters ? Bullies ? I don’t watch 30 Rock, I enjoyed SNL every Saturday night in my youth and some later. I think Tina’s comedic work is charming, funny and I abosolutely love her Sarah Palin. But I’m not convinced anti-Tina Fey voices out there necessarily constitute “hate” or “bullying”.

The author needs to be careful not to push the definition of “haters” and “bullies” from the Texas criminals who drug a man to his death on the back of a pickup or a Jacksonville truck load of students ran over a black man alone in a parkinglot or the countless gay young men and girls who commit suicide because of real haters and real bullies.

And lastly just because someone has some professional success or financial windfall and has detractors doesn’t automatically mean those detractors are jealous or even unsuccessful.
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montezaro
11:49 AM on 10/18/2011
Marcia, you are talking adults confronting bullies. In kid's world it doesn't work that way. I know it from the experience in my family. Our son was bullied - we found out now, several years after it was taking place. We knew that something was wrong, because his marks went down, he was withdrawing. We tried and tried, but he never wanted to tell us. Everything is OK, he would say.
He is an university student now. He was bullied because he was smaller than other kids and he was a nerd.
The bullying stopped after he build up his muscles and beat a crap out of several of his bullies. In his words, as well as ALL his friends: the school NEVER helps the victim, because they are afraid of those bully kid's parents (who raised them to be bullies). That's why he never told us. He knew if he did, he would be in even worst situation than before.
Turning the the cheek doesn't work.
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rcinstitute
Psychiatrist and Author
05:57 PM on 10/18/2011
I apologize for the confusion. I submitted this blog as "The Haters and How to Deal With Them." The editors have the final say in the title that gets posted. I'm sorry that you were expecting something more specific to bullying. My earlier post, entitled, "How to Reform a Bully" might be of interest to you.