Use This Ancient Technique to Shut Down Any B.S. Artist
It cuts right through the noise.
Depending on who you’re dealing with, you have to do the opposite of most advice out there. You have to get a little terse. The ancient Greeks had a strategy for that.
We’re taught that being nice gets you somewhere in life. We learn all kinds of puppy dog tricks to make everyone like us.
Usually, it works.
Other times, the effort we go through to secure someone’s approval doesn’t matter. The problem isn’t with the advice. It’s that sometimes you wind up having to deal with a sociopath, or an unrepentant narcissist. When that happens, being nice turns into a liability.
The kind of people to watch out for
There’s a certain kind of person who acts nice, but they’re not. Let’s call them a benevolent bully. They weaponize everything we know about likability. They deflect with small talk. They distract with praise. They pretend to listen. Meanwhile, they’re getting ready to screw us.
They actually don’t care about you. They only care about making you feel great for a few minutes. And in those few minutes, you let your guard down and allow them to take advantage of you.
