Let me start out by saying, I don’t accept negativity. Personally, negativity is a depressant, a downer, a weakening, and an avoidable concept. I feel blue just thinking about it:( Boooo!

I’d like to also acknowledge the fact that I know there are MANY people out there that will always see the glass as half empty. There will be more people out there that will tell you that you can’t do something before they tell you that you can. Man, it must suck being that miserable, seriously.

There will come a time in your life when you’ll realize that even those that love you the most may spew negativity your way, not necessarily to hold you back but to protect you from disappointment and pain. There will also be people who will counter your achievements with downfalls. You will share your next idea and they will shoot it up with negative holes. You will smile at the completion of the task you’ve just finished, and they will suggest other things that could be done or tell you how you could have done it better. Don’t you just looooove when people do that? ugh! Total parade rain-on-ers (ok it’s not a word but still).

For these reasons, you will also have to determine who you will share your hopes, dreams, and goals with. You’ll have to teach yourself to keep things to yourself until you’ve done them and then, and only then, share them with select people. There will also be people that you will just have to let find out what you’ve done when word gets around.

Sometimes people just can’t help themselves. They ‘hate’ on other people when they see their successes. They compare their accomplishments to yours and if they feel they somehow have come up short, they feel they must bring you down with them.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand why people must bring others down. Why people have to humiliate, degrade, or otherwise knock down other people?? I won’t even try at understanding the negative people, I’ll simply say, that I don’t and won’t accept it.

In that same vein, I put together a little bit of “ammo” for those of you whose businesses are on the line. Being that some ‘negativity’ can hurt your business you should know what’s what…

1. Slander– To defame

2. Defamation of Character– to disgrace, to harm the reputation of by libel or slander

3. Libel – a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression (1): a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt (2): defamation of a person by written or representational means (3): the publication of blasphemous, treasonable, seditious, or obscene writings or pictures

4. Cease and Desist Order – an order from an administrative agency to refrain from a method of competition or a labor practice found by the agency to be unfair

5. Harassment – (1): to annoy persistently (2): to create an unpleasant or hostile situation for especially by uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical conduct

6. Copyright -: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a literary, musical, or artistic work

7. Insinuate -: to introduce (as an idea) gradually or in a subtle, indirect, or covert way

8. Suggest -: to mention or imply as a possibility

9. Rumor – 1: talk or opinion widely disseminated with no discernible source2: a statement or report current without known authority for its truth.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a doomsday cloud. I simply want to make you all aware that such people do exist. No reason to be paranoid. No reason to second guess your judgment. I say hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. It’s really the only way you can be ready for anything.

If you’re anything like me, when someone hates on you, you say “bring it”. LOL. Seriously. I do. But, still, there are some things that can’t be “unsaid”. There are some things that can affect your business negatively and this is when you need this arsenal of know-how to be able to assess the situation and react to it accordingly.

Not everyone can be as bubbly as those that know me to know I am. I realize that when you’re in business for yourself there is always a chance that things can go wrong.

Keep your chins up:) (that’s not to say you have a double chin..LOL.. I’m just talking to more than one of you..LOL). Smile at people you see (what can it hurt really? lol), make eye contact, and be the best you that you can be!! Who’s gonna advertise your business and your personality better than you? In fact, positivity, humility, hard work, dedication, and a solid work ethic will get you the job over the next person every time.

xoxo- Cristina