Do you often remain unmoved when a person suffers, even as a result of your own actions? Do you have a constant need for admiration and validation from others? Do you often seek attention, praise, as well as recognition? Do you lack empathy? Do you often manifest exploitative behavior?
If your answer is ‘yes’ to all those questions, it means that you might be a narcissist. As a result, many of those who surrounded you at some point might have left you, believing that you are what they call a “toxic” person. A lot of people don’t like being around a narcissist, but guess what? There are ways to stop being a narcissist, and we’ll gladly tell you about some of them:
Practice empathy
Surely, emotions are not something easy to control, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. You can practice empathy by trying to put yourself in the shoes of others. Adopting the perspective of others is one of the most intelligent things you can do in life, and not just to develop your empathy. Try to understand the feelings, needs, and thoughts of others. If a person has a different IQ than yours, surely they will think differently in some situations.
Actively listening more than you speak is also a great way to build empathy. Most people out there are loudmouths, but few of them actually know how to listen to one another.
Ask for feedback
Feel free to ask for feedback from other people about your behavior and how it impacts them. Although it can be hard at first, it can turn out to be a powerful weapon that you can use to your advantage. Furthermore, asking for feedback can also win other people’s respect, as there are way too many people out there who don’t manifest any form of consideration to how they are being perceived by others.
Practice humbleness
Being humble once in a blue moon is not something bad. You need to cultivate your humbleness by admitting your limitations and recognizing that just about any other person out there, you’re not superior to others. Guess what? We all make mistakes, each and every one of us, which is what makes us humans in the first place. But we need to learn from those mistakes, as otherwise, we’re done for.
Set more realistic goals
The need for constant validation and success is not rational, and you know it very well, at least deep down, even though you may be a narcissist. Therefore, you need to prioritize your goals rather than your own selfish desires. For instance, set the goal of building a house where you can live with your wife and kids rather than investing money only to get yourself a new car to impress the ladies.
Establish healthy relationships
If you feel like a friend of yours doesn’t reward you with the same level of respect that you do for him, it means that you don’t have to be friends with him anymore. Therefore, you need friendships in which there is such thing as mutual respect. On the other hand, if you believe that, for some reason or another, you cannot give someone the same respect he or she is giving you, you need to let go of that relationship.
However, it’s a fact that some people who have to deal with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) may consider it particularly challenging to change themselves. Therefore, intensive therapy with a mental health professional might be needed.
