How to Outsmart a Narcissist

How to Outsmart a Narcissist

Free 4 Minute Mood Boost Meditation

TRANSCRIPT:

Speaker 1: (00:00)
Hello Queens. Welcome to another episode of, but Still She Thrives. Today we are diving into a topic that many of us have encountered at some point in our lives dealing with narcissists. They’re all around us. So whether it’s a coworker, family member, friend, or even a romantic partner or ex romantic partner, narcissists can be challenging to navigate. But fear not. Christie Jaya is here, . Today we’re gonna discuss some strategies on how to outsmart those nasty little narcissists.

Speaker 2: (00:34)
Hey Queens, welcome to, but still she thrives. Do you wanna stop getting caught up in that wicked web of a creepy crawling narcissist and you find yourself up late at night replaying the abuse you put up with and wondering how you can heal Now? Do you wake up hoping for healthy relationships and peace only to feel totally exhausted? And mind ed, girl, I see you. I’m Christie. I too had to disconnect from toxic people in my life and I wished I could undo the damage. I felt ashamed, lonely, and kind of lost. But I’m a stubborn Italian and I refuse to give up. I found ways to recalibrate my mind and body more quickly than I thought and can now share them with you. In this podcast, you will find coping tools, healing methods, and confidence boosters so you can trust yourself and find peace and freedom. So, shields up ladies, let’s go protect our peace.

Speaker 1: (01:31)
So first, really briefly, if you are new here, we are gonna touch on what narcissism actually is. It’s a personality disorder characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, right? But spoiler alert, narcissists deep, deep down are very wounded, very insecure and powerless. And this is why they have to have this big mask. It’s all a big nasty mask. Mask, but it’s still there. So we still have to deal with it. It doesn’t change the fact that they treat people poorly and have no empathy. They also have such fragile egos and can be so manipulative that it makes interactions with them. Super challenging. And if you have a narcissist in your life, you know what I’m talking about, probably why you clicked on this. So the first step in outsmarting a narcissist is to recognize their behavior patterns. This could include grandiosity, la, lack of empathy, manipulation, and this constant need for attention and admiration, which ain’t cute.

Speaker 1: (02:36)
So, you know, my first advice with a narcissist is Ron. But if you can’t continue on and listen, once you’ve identified a narcissist in your life, whatever relationship that is, the next step is setting healthy boundaries, right? They often push boundaries. They don’t give a about your boundaries. They can be quite demanding. So to outsmart them, you need to establish very clear limits on what you’re willing to tolerate and communicate them assertively. So you’ve gotta, this is part of the work I do with my clients, is building that confidence. Because without the confidence, sometimes it isn’t believable that you have a boundary or you won’t hold the boundary due to fear or guilt or whatever, right? So they may resist these boundaries completely. So standing firm is essential to your wellbeing. They, again, they’re gonna try to guilt trip you or play the victim, but stay resolute in your boundaries.

Speaker 1: (03:35)
Queen, I know you can speaking, which if you don’t know I have a boundaries course, all my information is always in my podcast show notes. Go click around in there, see what I have to offer. I have all my coaching offers and my boundaries course, which is epic. You’ll love it. Grab it. There’s a special bonus going on when you purchase it right now. So now is the time. So we know narcissists thrive on attention and admiration. So to outsmart them, avoid feeding their ego. Do not engage in the excessive flattery. A lot of us at one point or another may think, oh, I’ll just try to make them feel better and they’ll be nicer to me. Right? No, do not do that. Don’t give the constant validation. Instead, focus on rational communication. Like very short and sweet communication. And they say to give constructive feedback when necessary.

Speaker 1: (04:32)
I, I have a hard time with this. Um, I feel like any feedback, constructive or not, this is not a rational human. So the odds are against you that they’re actually going to take it into consideration unless they’re like absolutely desperate. But, so that is kind of up to you. I’m always very against giving any constructive feedback to the narcissist that I have had in my life. So that’s kind of a personal preference. You can try it out, but I would not have high expectations. But by not giving into their constant need for attention, you can take away some of their power and control. Another crucial strategy is maintaining emotional detachment. Oh, this is such a huge one. Narcissists can be emotionally manipulative, right? We know that. So it’s essential to protect, protect, that’s a new word, PR protect. That’s very passionate way of saying protect , protect your own emotions.

Speaker 1: (05:30)
Do not take their insults or criticisms of you personally. This is so hard for a lot of us, especially a lot of us are empaths that get sucked into their web, right? A lot of us have big hearts and big feelings and we’re sensitive, right? It’s, it’s tough. But this is why I do what I do with people because this is part of the journey I love helping with, is to get you to that point. Not only do you gain your confidence, but you also learn to unt attach detach, I don’t know, are they both words? Um, emotionally so that you can actually navigate successfully. Like whether that’s a relationship or you know, you’re co-parenting or whatever. So do not take their. Just don’t take it. Don’t absorb it. Don’t take the bait. By staying emotionally grounded and not reacting to their, you can regain control of the situation, which is what we’re trying to achieve by outsmarting them, right?

Speaker 1: (06:30)
I wanna drum roll for this one. Oo, that did not sound like a drum roll. All right? When dealing with a narcissist, it is essential to document every, everything. I cannot reiterate this enough. Keep records of your interactions, messages, any incidents that might be relative. Um, I would like to also say if you can avoid phone calls with them and do text or email, that is so much better because you have all the proof in the pudding and you know, have it documented. You don’t know, especially with narcissists, when stuff can turn and get bad, go legal, maybe you want it to go legal, then it’s extra important. You have all of these, like this tracking right of the words they say. A lot of times they can’t help themselves. So they can be really stupid when it comes to saying that will bite them in the later.

Speaker 1: (07:27)
It’s like, I don’t know. The only icing on the cake with a narcissist is they get real stupid ’cause they’re so reactionary. So whether it’s a workplace situation that turns into a harassment suit or legal disputes divorce, I’ve seen a lot of divorce situations where thank goodness that these women or men had everything documented and it really was helpful in their favor with custody and all that. Side note, I think I’ve mentioned this before, but you can, I, I don’t do all this legal stuff, don’t quote me on this, but I believe you can get some sort of addendum on a divorce decree. Not sure if that’s the exact wording, but I think so where you can make it so that a third party sees your communication between each other. This really has helped some of my clients when they’re dealing with co-parenting. This has been awesome.

Speaker 1: (08:23)
They have this app. There’s specific apps for co-parenting for this reason or not co-parenting. I say that I always say co-parenting, but having to parent with someone else, co-parenting is really not a good way to describe parenting with a narcissist if you are not together because they don’t really co anything after that. Um, do they even co anything at all? So, but if you are parenting with an ex and they are a narcissist, this is really helpful. There are apps, I don’t know the names, but talk to your attorney, um, or anyone in the legal field and ask what your options are for having any communication like legally has to be through a third party app sort of thing where I believe the attorney can have the visibility on there as well. And another thing you can also have set, set up is so that they can only contact you about things pertaining to the children.

Speaker 1: (09:24)
So you’re not gonna get all this crappy hate mail for the rest of your life. So yes, I will say narcissists can be some pretty intelligent people. I know a couple of them that are highly intelligent, but one of their weaknesses is they can be very reactive and that can be in our favor as far as them being kind of sloppy with their evidence, right? Stuff that they say. And if you have it documented, it can be pure gold and very helpful if it goes to a legal situation or other ways too. So make sure to document everything. And also maybe this isn’t outsmarting a narcissist, but making sure people know like you, I’m not saying go blab your business to everybody, but make sure somebody close to you knows your situation and can help you out. You can lean on them, you can support them.

Speaker 1: (10:25)
I actually, this is only with someone you really, really trust. I’ve actually sent stuff that I had documented, I have emailed it to my best friend who I trust greatly so that that evidence is backed up somewhere else as well. Because you never know, narcissists can get cuckoo, especially like if you’re still living with one or you think they could have your password, anything like that where they could go and delete everything. So I say if you have a trusted person to lean on, just in general getting support from them, but also thinking about using them as an extra backup. If you truly, truly trust ’em, like a best friend, family member, nobody who you think could get convinced by a narcissist that you’re a show person. Because guess what narcissists will do. The smear campaign will, they will start telling all these people all this about you make you look bad.

Speaker 1: (11:26)
So it has to be someone you know is a thousand percent on your side. So these are some of the ways there’s others. And if you wanna go deeper into it, go check out the ways to work with me and sign up for a call or a month or three months or the rest of your life so we can deal with this together. I am here for you. I have a lot of golden nuggets and dealt with all of this myself and I’m in a really great place now. So I love helping you and that’s why I do what I do. If you are not subscribed to my podcast, go ahead and hit subscribe or follow or whatever it says on your podcast platform. Don’t forget, I release new episodes every single Tuesday and sometimes I have little bonus episodes, so come follow me so you don’t miss any episodes. I’m also on social media, Instagram, I’m fierce. Christy Jade on YouTube. I think I’m fierce. Christy Jade, I’m just fierce. Christy Jade all around. Um, also if you wanna email me, just say hi, have any questions. My email address is always in the show notes so you can find me there. Alright, let’s settle down the end of the episode. Let’s get namaste. Take a deep breath, hands to heart in less you’re driving ’cause that’s really awkward. And let’s just breathe in. Do a couple affirmations. Okay, inhale, exhale and repeat after me.

Speaker 1: (12:51)
I have power over my own life. Nobody controls me but me. I’m learning every day and am right where I’m supposed to be because I’m a queen. Alright, Queens, I love you, smooches and deuces and all that good stuff and I will see you in the next episode.