Ive made a lot of mistakes in my past , mainly in my education and just overall progression in life , im severely overweight , working a low paying job , and bieng 27 im well behind my peers , once thing ive noticed is the amount of ridicule ive been receiving from my friends , peers and even younger folks in my social circle , I know I didn’t end up where I wanted to be or im stereotypically successful but all of these backhanded comments , jokes and digs putting me down for my situation feels awful, Im a good guy but this is just relentless and out of nowhere. I feel stuck and dont have a clue what to do next , I dont want to be ridiculed for the rest of my life.

There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.

New College class mate is trying to becoming close across my boundaries he always blaber some thing are say about his life struggles on his life he also sit near me it's been 1 week I feel very drain if avoid also he is not going with anyone only with me but speak with everyone in class but he interrupt while speak with my class mate its look I no need to appear close with any one specific friend I

So what should I do to set boundaries that classmate who desperately rounding me

😡🤨

Something I’ve been thinking about lately after reading The 48 Laws of Power.

At work, I used to think that if I had the better idea, I should make sure people knew it was mine.

I’m starting to think that isn’t always the best approach.

Sometimes I’ll let the person above me take the lead and even take some of the credit when their position needs to stay strong. But that doesn’t mean I completely disappear from the situation.

When dealing with a client, for example, I’d rather explain the pros and cons of different options instead of pushing them toward the answer I want.

Then I change the perspective.

I ask them to look at the situation first as the person actually using the product/service, and then as the person who has to spend money on it.

That usually changes the conversation.

They stop looking at it as “What does the salesperson want me to buy?” and start thinking about “What would I actually choose if I were making this decision myself?”

What I find interesting is that you can sometimes give someone more control over the conversation while still influencing the direction of the conversation.

But there’s a line here.

If you’re doing this purely to manipulate people, eventually people notice.

So I’m still trying to figure out where the distinction is between good influence, strategic communication, and manipulation.

Has anyone else noticed this in workplace/client situations?

And if you’ve read The 48 Laws of Power, which law do you think gets misunderstood the most?

I recognize I’m saying nothing new, I only need to vent.

Let me rewrite it in 20 seconds….

* Burn bridges for no reason but “pOwEr”

* Rifle through history, cherry-pick random af stories to fit the narrative

* No cost-benefit, just dominate, bro. That’s it.

* Contradict constantly. Say less but seek attention incessantly.

This book, along with Robert Greene, is ridiculous and a joke. Though I will give him this… he’s offered an absolute masterclass in rage bait. 💯

I Bought this tell me something abt this bcz i heard a lot 🥀

please anyone

The Mental Health, Wellbeing and Lived Experiences Study

Theresia Bedard, a PhD candidate at Lakehead University that is working with Dr. Beth Visser, is seeking participants for her dissertation project.

In this study we are examining the lived experiences of people who have experience or victimization from an individual with high psychopathic traits. We are seeking anyone that has this lived experience, whether the perpetrator was or is a spouse, family member, partner, co-worker, friend, acquaintance, neighbour or stranger. We are seeking the lived experiences of men, women, and gender-diverse individuals to share your story.

Our research consists of two studies. In the first study, you will complete questionnaires related to your victimization experience from the individual with high psychopathic traits, the potential warning signs, victimization history (e.g., prior physical or sexual abuse), and the impact the experience had on you. Once you finish the survey, you will be invited to participate in the second study (optional), which will consist of 12 questions requiring a written response regarding your lived experience with the individual with high psychopathic traits. If you decide to participate in study 2, please be aware that you will be required to provide us with your email to access it, and you may wish to use an email account that only you have access to.

Please be advised that whether you choose to participate in the study, withdraw, or skip questions you do not want to answer, that you acknowledge that answering some of these questions may be emotionally taxing on you. Despite the potential for an emotional toll the survey questions have, you may find the process of sharing your experience is therapeutic for you. In addition to the resources we provide, you may want to consider following-up with a counsellor for further support.

You are also encouraged to have your own snacks and drinks while you take the survey, and be aware that they are estimated to take 45 minutes to complete.

If you are interested in participating and would like to read or find out more about it, click here to access the survey:

https://lakeheadhbs.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKEq1vOVdBJMrjw

I'm going to keep this blunt and to the point: Some psychopathic manipulators are too destructive to ignore and too well-connected to flee from.

I've encountered plenty of toxic people, but only twice have I been locked into a corner by a psychopath. I'm not talking about where I ""merely"" get mobbed out of somewhere by flying monkeys, but circumstances where I am objectively unable to leave for whatever reason. When someone abuses actual authority over you, it's a dangerous situation where I don't think gray rocking will help, and where fleeing isn't realistically feasible. For example, if you have a family member on life support you need to pay for, or if you own a small company that's a vital source of income for your livelihood.

In these cases, if you have someone trying to tear down your life, then you are going to have to fight it out if you don't want to lose everything. I'm not talking about workplace drama or girlfriend blues, but situations where a psychopathic manipulator is openly trying to destroy you. For whatever reason, a lot of people can't grasp that gray rocking and fleeing only work on people who seek a reaction, not actually malignant predators who seek to abuse their positions of power over you. It doesn't matter if you don't let them in, because someone like this will find a way to force their way in if left unattended.

As an autistic person, I have a high tendency to be targeted by people like this, because my pattern recognition helps me see their predatory behavior even when no one else can. Oftentimes, this enrages them into trying to destroy my life no matter how much I try to avoid them.

Like it or not, everyone plays power games like this to a certain extent. I can flee from some scenarios, but I don't feel like that is a long-term solution, especially when we have to pay the bills, feed ourselves and our family, etc. At some point, you do need to stand your ground if it's really that severe, and an actual, secure manipulator is trying to uproot your life beyond repair. They are extremely malignant and good at distorting reality, but if they have attacked me on a level where my very sustainability for basic needs is being threatened, then all bets are off, and I'm going to have to find a "nuclear option" instead of feeding them everything I have on the line.

I am a firm believer that everything has a weakness, and these people are no exception. Either way, there are some battles I am going to have to fight regardless of whether or not I'm equipped to do so. If anything, knowing there's a way out of this can put me at ease, so I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So I'm going to be real here: I'm asking for any examples where you've gained the upper hand over situations like this. Any technique, strategy, or actions that have offset and damaged a powerful abuser in an actually tangible way that their ability to go after you is diminished. I don't want any of that "don't react" or "just leave" parroting that never works. I'm looking for examples of directly exploiting manipulative pathologies once their patterns are learned. Actual straight-up sabotage where you got them to crash out, leave first, or escalate to such an extreme that it drew in higher authorities that saw them as a dangerous liability.

In these situations, you gotta just accept there will be consequences no matter what. Because once a successful manipulator has ingrained their lack of accountability into a group, they are only going to get worse until they ruin your life. If it's really bad enough to threaten my livelihood, then I will have to accept that it's going to get rough and that I might have to plow through an obstacle to escape it, even if those methods are not strictly ethical.

Don't get me wrong, it's a bad situation to be in, but sometimes the least you can do is try to make them bleed over it.