 In your life, there will be friends and there will be those that think they are friends. They are each okay but with different roles. One seeks to help you grow, the other seeks to take from you. In every good relationship, there is a balance of give and take. There are those who have nothing to offer you, who only seek to take and take until there is nothing left. Avoid such people like the plague, they are always in the minority. On your way up, you need as much support as you can get. They will not get it from those guys. They will not push you to accomplish your dreams because they don't have any. They will only tell you what they know. You don't need those type of people around you. In today's video, I'm going to share with you 13 ways intelligent people deal with difficult and toxic people. 1. They avoid them. Intelligent people know how and when toxic people stress them and they avoid such situations like the plague. It might be a friend, a boss, a supervisor. But intelligent person knows to avoid them for their own peace. They know that those people bring only trouble for them. They decide means of communicating with them in ways that limit physical access. They may send emails more and avoid physical meetings where possible. In this current pandemic, intelligent people will avoid Zoom meetings with people who are toxic to them. They rather chat or exchange emails where necessary. According to Forbes, recent research from the Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology at Friedrich Schiller University in Germany found that exposure to stimuli that causes strong negative emotions, the same kind of exposure you get when dealing with toxic people, costs subjects' brain to have a massive stress response. Dealing with toxic people is very stressful. Intelligent people know this. It is why they avoid them as much as they can. Intelligent people are probably going through a lot of things but that doesn't give them the right to treat people the way they treat them. 2. Cut them off An intelligent person knows when it is time. They don't wait for a second longer to see if anything changes. If they have endured a sad relationship for too long, they know when to call it quits. They do not sugarcoat words. They know what they want. If they can no longer work with the person, they let them go. For some intelligent people, it might mean quitting their jobs to go somewhere else. For others, it might mean quitting a stressful relationship. Whichever it is, don't hesitate if you feel like it's time to leave. Toxic people are often manipulative and may manipulate you to still stay if you give them a chance. 3. Engage wisely Intelligent people know not to engage toxic people without being prepared. They know they can be manipulative, they then weigh their words carefully and ask them a lot of questions to clarify their actions. An intelligent person will also have trusted parties he or she gets a second opinion about issues from. That way, they may have a more robust understanding of their toxic friends and what exactly they want. 4. Create boundaries To help them interact with toxic people better, they create boundaries. They can for instance, say that they should not be called during work. If the intelligent person is in a romantic relationship with a toxic person, setting boundaries around work and family can make dealing with a toxic partner easier. The toxic person will never get his work or family involved in their fight. The boundaries may even extend beyond work and family, they just has to be some boundaries. The relationship can have rules, no yelling, no fighting in public and so on. Setting clear boundaries around your relationship can help you manage expectations. You don't want to come home one day and see that your partner came to your apartment and smashed your laptop out of annoyance. 5. Remain factual Intelligent people, when dealing with toxic people, use facts. They don't engage them emotionally because they know they are seldom rational in their thinking. They're challenging to work with them. Intelligent people know how to go around it. They ask questions and weigh them from a factual perspective. They try not to allow the toxic friend's emotion to cloud their judgments. 6. They focus on solutions They are very solution oriented. They don't want to listen to the complaining friend go on and on about how things will not work. They want to be able to bring solutions to the problems complained about. Some of them have gotten jobs for their toxic friends on a recommendation while all their friends did was lament. They listen to their friends and try to give valuable feedback. They also remember important dates and help them feel loved even when they are so miserly. 7. They choose patience Intelligent people don't judge their friends even when they are toxic. They try to understand them. They are slow to anger because they understand that their friends are acting under the influence of strong emotions they may not even be able to contain. Being patient with people like this is not easy. They can get on your nerves. They seem to have too many emotional baggage it can feel like a drag listening to them. But intelligent people are patient. They know that their toxic friend may actually get better if they care for them. 8. They remain aware of their emotions In trying to relate with their friends who may be toxic, intelligent people try to remain aware of their own emotions. They don't want to be sucked into the emotional whirlwind of their toxic friend. They perceive things very differently and usually don't see a lot of reasons to be happy. Intelligent people know there is a lot to be grateful for and happy about. They know that their attitude will determine a lot of things in their life. They therefore choose to remain positive and keep their emotions in check. 9. They get enough rest They know they need rest to recuperate from all the mental stress of each day. They therefore sleep up to eight hours daily and try not to do stressful things before they sleep. They don't drink a lot of caffeine and stay alert throughout the day. Intelligent people often take naps in the afternoon too if they have the time. They stay refreshed and positive about everything. They choose their feelings and thoughts and don't allow the things happening around to influence them. 10. They forgive They don't hold grudges against their toxic friends. They always know that they may offend them in one way or the other. They make up their minds to forgive them. They set themselves free from malice. They, however, do not forget these things. If they forget, they may not plan effectively on how to prevent what has happened from happening again. They are so convicted in their way of life that no matter how many times the toxic friend offends them, they will still forgive them. 11. They surround themselves with like-minded people. Intelligent people have great friends who form a strong support system for them. They can rely on their support system anytime, any day. They get the opinion when dealing with their toxic friends. They also help them care for their toxic friends. It is easy to overwhelm one person with negative emotions. It is not so easy to do the same with three other people. They can make each work towards committing time and resources to help the toxic friend get better, especially if he or she was their friend before. 12. They endure. They endure the things that toxic friend does. It is what helps them to stay so patient. It may take a year or more to get through to the toxic friend. Intelligent people are sometimes willing to wait. They endure insults and sometimes physical attacks. Please, if you are a lady, this does not apply to you. Any man that physically abuses you deserves to be in jail. 13. They point out wrongs. The intelligent person is not afraid to point out wrongs committed by his toxic friend. He is factual and states things as they are. This can also help the toxic friend to come to terms with what he or she did or does wrong. Intelligent people have several ways of dealing with toxic people. Toxic people can be rather toxic. Sometimes it is best to avoid them completely. Intelligent people occasionally undertake to deal with them in a situation like a job where the toxic friend is the boss and owner of the business. People's lives are in phases. The toxic friend today might eventually become someone else tomorrow.