There are many types of individuals, and each with its strengths and weaknesses. Without a doubt, one of the greatest defects that human beings can have is a negative attitude towards life, because we all know that day to day life is not always a paradise, and the way we interpret and face the events that happen to us influences our happiness and our ability to solve problems.

While there are optimistic people, whom everyone wants to have by their side , there are also negative people, who see everything as black . In this article we will talk about the latter.

Positive versus negative mentality

Obviously, our happiness does not depend only on our attitude, but it is always better to face problems with a positive mentality than with a negative one. There are many reasons why we should be grateful to be able to enjoy this life, so it is always better to face the days with a good face, regardless of the weather or how the day presents itself.

Positive thinking increases emotional and psychological well-being, as well as physical well-being : studies state that positively thinking people suffer less from heart disease. Therefore, it is always better to be positive than negative, and if you adopt this mentality, the people around you will thank you.

Characteristics of Negative People

If you want to know what negative people are like, in the following lines you will find a list with the characteristics that these individuals have s .

1. Always complain

Negative people are pessimistic people and therefore see the glass as half empty instead of half full . They are always protesting and, instead of taking action, they are left regretting what happened. Complaints are always directed towards the outside (other people, situations, etc.), so they avoid having to reflect on what they may have done wrong. This way it is difficult to improve.

2. They give up the first ones of change

If anything characterizes negative people it is that they rarely achieve their goals because they always quit as soon as things get complicated. This happens because they have low self-confidence, that is, they do not believe in their abilities to overcome adversity. Self-confidence is not the same as self-esteem, although they also tend to have low self-esteem .

  • If you want to know what self-confidence is, you can do it in our article: “Albert Bandura’s Self-Confidence: Do you believe in yourself?”

3. Take things too personally

These people take everything too personally , even those situations they cannot change. And since they have low self-esteem, that is, they value themselves negatively, everything affects them.

4. Not living in the present

They are people who do not live in the present because they are afraid of meeting themselves . Negative people prefer to live in unrealistic expectations and regret the past than what really matters, which is to be in the here and now.

5. They focus on their weaknesses

Another characteristic of this type of individual is that, when evaluated negatively, they tend to focus on their defects rather than their virtues. This is a wrong way of thinking that paralyzes them and does not allow them to look at the future with optimism .

6. They stay in the comfort zone

Focusing on the weaknesses causes the person not to have enough confidence to move forward, and remains anchored in the comfort zone, because there she feels safe . The comfort zone may seem like a nice place, but in the long run it does not allow the individual to grow as a person and be happy.

7. They worry too much about what others think of them

We all want others to like us, because we are social beings. But this kind of person cares too much about what others think of them . Since their happiness depends on external factors, they are people who are always worried and do not have the inner peace necessary to be happy. One should work on one’s self-knowledge, on finding one’s own desires and feeling good about oneself so as not to suffer from the valuation of others.

8. They do not control their life

And since they have not achieved inner peace nor have a strong personality, they do not control their life . When you depend on external rather than internal factors to be happy, you don’t know what you want, nor do you know yourself, nor do you fight for your dreams. On the contrary, you allow yourself to be influenced by what others think.

9. They do not forgive and hold grudges

They are usually people who do not forget the past, largely because they do not forgive and always have a great resentment . This does not allow them to live in the present, connected to themselves. Forgiveness and acceptance are healing attitudes that allow us to close wounds from the past.

10. They blame others instead of doing self-criticism

When one does not forgive or accept, it is usually because one finds it difficult to face reality. This type of individual does not make self-criticism and, therefore, prefers to blame others for his failures. In order to change and learn from the past, it is necessary to see things objectively and extract the positive part from not very pleasant situations .

11. They do not see opportunities for growth in failure

And if negative people blame others and do not make self-criticism, it is very difficult for them to learn from the situations . These individuals tend to get stuck in failures, without letting go or learning from them. While a positive person learns from the bad things that happen in their life, negative people stay removing the wound for a long time. Something that does not allow for progress.

12. They like the word “but”

Being people with self-confidence and low self-esteem, they often see the future as confusing. They may have high expectations, but when it comes down to it, there are always “buts” . It is logical considering that they focus on the weaknesses rather than on the strengths. Their great fault is not trusting themselves and seeing life in a negative way.

And how are the optimistic people?

As you see, negative thinking does not benefit the individual who thinks this way at all. It is much better to have an optimistic mentality, to be able to face difficulties with hope, believing in one’s own possibilities. Thinking positively can make a difference when you want to achieve your dreams .

  • But how are optimistic people? In our article: “11 characteristics of optimistic people” you can find out