How to Avoid Making Enemies

Never prove you are right, and the other is wrong. This does two negative things. It makes you look like a know it all. And does not engender the per son to have favorable thoughts towards you.

How do you know if you are absolutely right to begin with? This world we live in is so complex, I am not sure anyone can be right 100% of the time, all the time. In fact, I am not sure you can be right even 50% of the time. There is so much changing information out there nowadays, it is like a full-time job just keeping up with one changing standard after another.

What to do instead? How can you handle a situation where you think someone is wrong? The methods can be broken down depending on the potential impact the misinformation could have. See below the methods to use in order of potential impact from lowest

to highest impact.

1. Move on with your life. If it makes no difference to you or anybody and has no importance to anything whatsoever. Then just let it go and forget about it and move on with your lives. This is so important. Most people will fight to the death over which food is better. Who makes a better song. But think about what impact this has on your life or anyone’s life.

2. If the matter at hand does have a moderate kind of importance, either to your family/home life, or a work matter. Then you can mention that you yourself may be wrong in the matter, and you will need to do some follow up research. But also state that you have some different information and will need to follow up. This takes a certain type of humility, to admit you may be wrong and to suggest examining the facts of the matter.

3. If the information is of major importance, meaning that decisions are being made based off of this information that will have a major impact on money or time resources. Then it is important to get the information correct. What to do in this situation is commit to laying all the information out clearly on the table. It could be a case of you or someone else just interpreting certain data one way. Most of the time, when data is presented clearly then you can win your way over to your way of thinking, and move on with your mission.

Bottom line. Do not immediately judge others and jump to immediate conclusions about others beliefs or perspectives. One, you could be wrong yourself, and two, It doesn’t help to move forward.