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8 WAYS TO AVOID

NEGATIVITY AT WORK

Sonia Choquette is a world-renowned author, storyteller, vibrational healer, and six-sensory spiritual teacher.
She’s the author of several best-selling books, including The New York Times bestseller The Answer Is Simple…,
Ask Your Guides, Trust Your Vibes, and Soul Lessons and Soul Purpose. http://soniachoquette.com

One of the greatest challenges people in the HERE ARE 8 WAYS TO AVOID BAD VIBES AT WORK:
workplace face is avoiding bad vibes. Nothing
can turn an enthusiastic mood around more 1. Run a “vibe check”. Recognize the quality of the energetic
quickly or throw a wet blanket on the creative atmosphere at work every day. Simply testing the psychic temperature of
fires on the job than a solid dose of downer the workplace will allow you to make the necessary adjustments to keep
energy from someone you work with. In fact, your own energy intact.
it should be viewed as the number one work
hazard to avoid at all costs. 2. If you sense dissonance, take a deep breath. Get grounded, surround
yourself with positive vibes, and resolve that you won’t let anything you
Just as toxic radiation is poison to our health, encounter throw you off center.
negative energy is also disastrous to human
beings. Don’t be misled into thinking that 3. Resolve to let the negativity bounce off you. Don’t take any
because bad vibes are invisible or hard to identify negativity you run into personally. Commit to focusing only on your goals
at their source that they’re any less deadly to and intentions for the day.
your creative genius than poisonous gas—they
aren’t. And don’t be conned into believing that 4. Acknowledge the bad vibes. Recognize them in some way, if only to
denying or ignoring negativity will protect you yourself—but be discreet and subtle. You don’t need to announce them to
from its deadly effects either—it won’t. the entire office. This will only spread the negativity you want to clear.

HOW BAD VIBES AFFECT YOU 5. Be kind, loving, and patient with those around you because they
need it. Focus on work, and if negative conversation arises, listen neutrally
Bad vibes weigh you down, irritate your nervous and compassionately if you can’t gracefully get away.
system, depress your mood, leave you doubting
your self-worth, distract you, and make you 6. Observe, don’t absorb what’s going on around you. If you can
defensive. And if you must ward off all that unobtrusively escape, do so. Your feet are two of your most powerful
craziness, there will be little energy left over defenses against negativity. Turn them in the opposite direction and leave.
to actually do your job, let alone do it well. My
book, Tune In, can help you understand how to 7. If you can’t make a run for it, surrender and accept the situation.
listen to your intuition and recognize the vibes Give the bad-vibe dispenser (BVD) your complete attention for a full five
that you feel so you can avoid negativity and live minutes. Encourage this person to complain, gossip, attack, and whine to
a more rewarding life. their heart’s content.

The other day I walked past the TV as it was 8. Just listen, breathe, and stay neutral—don’t engage, resonate, or
airing the five o’clock news. Seeing dozens of rescue. When the five minutes have passed, ask with complete sincerity if
people from a local government office being there’s anything you can personally do to help right now. If you hear, “Yes,
taken out on stretchers by emergency workers, I there is,” and you can help, then do so. If you hear, “No, not really,” then
anxiously asked my husband what had happened. say, “I’m sorry. I really hope it works out.” Then go back to work.
Jokingly, he said, “The boss was in a bad mood
and gave everyone a psychic attack. It took out
the entire department.” The most challenging thing about negativity at work is that it feels
politically dangerous to acknowledge that it even exists, let alone point it
Jokes or not, “psychic attacks” (my personal out. Like the elephant in the the room that everyone pretends isn’t there,
expression for the effects of being derailed by the person spreading bad vibes is rarely confronted by others for fear of
negative or bad vibes) are real and debilitating. being accused of harassment.
And they’re the main reason people quit their
jobs, more so even than not making enough But denial is not protection, and neither is pretending that you don’t feel
money. The good news is that you can protect anything. Although it’s a noble effort, denying or ignoring negativity in the
yourself against negativity in the workplace. The workplace is not a sound strategy for protection—after all, the bomb will
even better news is if you’re really creative, you still tick, taking everyone down by the minute. Until you acknowledge that
can actually do something to stop it. there is, in fact, a problem, you can’t solve it.
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