Sometimes you need to spend time with someone you would rather not spend time with. Sometimes an old friend comes back in town and catches you off guard and convinces you to go out for the day when you would rather do anything else. And, sometimes your least favorite family member shows up at a holiday uninvited and glues themselves to you for the whole day. Sometimes you just have to spend time with co-workers, friends of friends, and complete strangers that you would rather not spend time with. It happens. When it does, don’t use your time to whine and complain. Instead, make the most of your day by using it productively.
Practice Strengthening A Character Weaknesses
One of my favorite aspects of Lifebook Online was the character section. I loved looking into myself and who I want to be as a person in this world. I now know what I want my character to look like. I also know what weaknesses I have when it comes to character.
Tolerance for stupidity is my biggest weakness. Unfortunately, I often find myself around a lot of stupid people.
I’m not talking about people with a low IQ. I’m talking about people who don’t have awareness around their actions, words, and behaviors. I’m talking about selfish people who do things out of greed regardless of who they hurt. I’m talking about people who are unwilling to see that their actions have an impact on others. I’m talking about ignorant people who think they know everything.
Tolerance is important in a peaceful world. I know that. I expect tolerance from other people, so I need to be able to show it. This is why I think it’s an important character trait for me to work on.
What weakness can you work on? Anger, defensiveness, paranoia, cruelty, dishonesty, jealousy, pettiness, or something else?
I would suggest looking for a weakness that comes up every time you are around people you would rather be with. That would be a good one to work on!
Learn At Least One Thing
As someone who writes a lot, I tend to use my time spent with all people learning. I try to learn what they want, need, and look for in life. Solving problems is a huge part of creating content and products.
But, when I’m hanging around someone I’d rather not spend time with, I pay attention to issues in myself and in them that may make for a good article (or entire website) in the future. I take lessons out of struggles. I try to see things from their point of view so I have a better perspective on issues from all sides.
What can you learn when out with someone you would rather not spend time with? More about yourself? More about where you want to be or don’t want to be? More about different beliefs?
If you can learn one thing from a day spent with people you would rather not spend time with, you are making your day much more productive in your life.
Be Of Service
A day spent in service never feels unproductive. When you help someone else out, you feel like you accomplished something with your day.
So how can you be of service to someone you don’t want to spend time with?
- Make them feel good about themselves. This is probably the biggest gift you can give anyone (including yourself).
- Help them with an issue they are having.
- Add some positivity to their life.
- Be someone they can talk to.
- Make them laugh.
- Help them make an important decision.
The point is to do something that lifts them up or helps them in some way. And, if you want to feel good at the end of the day, don’t expect anything in return.
