How to Deal with People Who Are Barnacles in Your Life
There will be a time in everyone's life when they meet at least one person who is like a barnacle and won't leave the person alone no matter how many times the person says they are not interested or they don't want to be around them.
I have a few of such people in my life, as an internet marketer I run into quite a few people who attach themselves to me for various reasons and these people just want to take, take, take, take, and take some more. I handle the customer service for my business and deal with a few people on a near daily basis that drive me nuts!
I'm tellin ya..they drive me nuts, here are a few examples of the people that I call barnacles:
Hand Holders - These are people that want you to hold their hand through every single thing.. they lack total confidence in themselves and even if they do know what to do.. they want you to do it for them.. so if they fail then they can try and blame you for their failure.
Tire Kickers - These people are like flies, they flock to the largest pile of crap and yet never land on it.. they just keep flying around without ever committing to any one thing. No matter what you say to them.. you can't motivate them.. only they can choose to do something with their lives.. and they mostly choose not to do anything.. a total lack of commitment.
Wishful Thinkers - These People have the best of intentions, they dream big and yet never do anything to bring them one iota closer to their dream. The saying "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions", applies to people that fall into this category.
Cheap Skates - People that fall into this category.. drive me nuts! They never want to pay for anything.. they are always looking for a free ride. You probably have a friend or family member like this.
SOB's - No.. not Son of a B's... these are people that fall for what I like to call "Shiny Object Buyers', they are the ones that are constantly buying the next big thing and are never happy with anything that they get.
Barnacles
These types of people attach themselves to me and I find it difficult working with them. Some days I just want to tell them to beat it and leave me alone. But I don't. One of the things I found when I meet these people or identify them in my life, I try to help them as best as I can and if they persist in not wanting to do anything or they are driving me nuts. I give them tasks and as they complete them.. they can graduate and move on to the next thing. I find that this helps the people move over the things in their lives that are stopping them from reaching success.
If you have a barnacle in your life, don't let these people bring you down. Pry them off of you, do your best to help them.. and if they don't want help, then shake the dust from your sandals and move on. It's not worth wasting your life trying to help someone who may not really want to be helped.
These kind of people have no self-confidence. Maybe they were not taught in how to handle themselves properly, how to behave in every situations in life.
Yes, these kind of people can be irritating but the best we can do to them is to help them because certainly they are also asking theirselves how.
But of course there's a limitation to every help we can offer.
Boundaries! They are always defined by your feelings. When you honor your feelings, you honor your boundaries. They are guidelines for how we relate ourselves to the rest of the world. So set up Barnacle Boundaries. You have inspired me to do a post on Boundaries.
So very true! It is definitely boundaries! I was inspired to write this tonight because I was dealing with a guy that was just exhausting me and while I was exasperatedly explaining to a family member.. the idea of barnacles popped into my head. I need to set up Barnacle Boundaries... ! That is a great suggestions! Thanks!
As a reformed hand holder I'd say your assesment of it being a confidence issue is spot on, however it's less about wanting people to do everything for you and more not trusting in your own abilities.
That is true. I had another classification for Lazy People, but decided to just merge it into hand holders.
Interesting classification of barnacles. You have a big experience to deal with them. Thank you for interesting ideas, Digitalhound!)
Thanks! Life would be so much simpler with barnacles.. lol. =D
Absolutely! ))
nice read~~
Thanks! =D