How to Handle a Hypocrite
We all know a hypocrite, you know, the person who puts up a false front. They tell you one thing but the truth about their own life is altogether different. Social media is steeped in hypocrisy but there’s also plenty of hypocrisy in our daily lives.
Identifying the Hypocrites in Your Life
I’m sure you have friends that are more than ready and willing to criticize your life. If their advice is so good, then why aren’t they following it themselves. They can go on and on about how to deal with co-workers, how to handle your finances, and how to get along in the world. You listen, you maybe even implement some of their suggestions. Then you learn that they are still living with their parents and Mom and Dad pay all the bills.
This is the same person who tells you that you should find another job instead of complaining about it, only to turn around and spend week after week complaining about their manager, their co-workers, the hours they work, and the low pay they receive. Ever wanted to say, “If it’s so terrible why don’t you take your own advice and find a better job?”
“But I have to listen to her; she’s my friend,” you say.
We say, to hell with that!
Hypocrites make your life miserable, they raise your stress levels, and they often have plenty of advice for everyone else while their own life is an unmitigated mess.
Hypocritical people set my teeth on edge. They always have “just the right thing” to say that will make your life a whole lot better while they are scraping the bottom of the barrel in their own life.
“You know what you should do?”
You sigh inside as she sits down next to you at the lunch table. “No, what?”
“You should just walk out. I saw the way they treated you in that meeting today. You should march right into HR and tell them to take the job and shove it where the sun don’t shine.”
How Not to be a Hypocrite
At this point you can, accept their advice and hope your spouse’s job is secure, tell them to take their own advice, or just let it roll off your back. It’s Friday and you won’t have to deal with her again until Monday morning.
Maybe you think we’re pretty quick to give advice here at Wild One Forever. We are. The difference is, most of what we tell you is from actual experience. Oh, and yeah, we’re not planning out your life for you, just suggesting changes that might help.
Do we ask you to consider doing things that aren’t easy or comfortable? Sure. But we do those things ourselves as well. Maybe not every day but more often than not. Becoming a “Wild One” is more than being the life of the party. It means following your passion, identifying your dreams and making them come true. For inspiration, take a look at these articles:
Handling the Hypocrite
So, how do you deal with that? What do you do about the hypocrites in your life? Here are a few suggestions:
- Give them the benefit of the doubt. Try to remember that their advice probably has an honorable intention.
- Talking is easier than doing. Knowing what should be done is not the same as doing it. Your friend’s advice might not be bad or wrong, just too difficult for them to accomplish.
- Don’t be nasty, but subtly point out that the advice is good and suggest that they follow it themselves.
- It’s possible that the advice isn’t right for you because there’s information the advisor doesn’t know. If so, you’re under no obligation to follow it.
- Worse comes to worst, quietly do what works and disregard the rest.
Remember that it’s easier to see someone else’s problems than it is to see your own. I’m sure there have been times in your life when a friend’s path has been so plain to you that you just can’t understand why they aren’t following it. Dealing with these people varies. The person who constantly tells you how to do things (at work for instance) while never doing them, needs to be called out while the person who makes suggestions for advancing at work might be right. Consider what everyone says but make sure you analyze it before you run off to quit your job and move to a desert island.
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