How to Prevent People from Manipulating or Taking Advantage of You

Manipulation is one of the most destructive form of control in society. It weakens even the strongest men and lower the highest morale. Getting yourself open to manipulation can make you lose self-esteem, doubt your worth, question your judgement, lose your right, and surrender your power to someone mentally and physically weaker than you. 

The most concerning part of it is that you may not even know that you are working under manipulation. This is because manipulators can be those you likely trust, love, or cherish, and that gives them the advantage over you. They would likely detect your weaknesses, and use that as a point of exploitation. 

Manipulation Tactics to Watchout

Manipulators master the craft of manipulation before they practicalize it on vulnerable people. You need to know and resist tools that manipulators use in order to prevent people from taking advantage of you. Some of the most popular tactics for manipulation include:

• Seduction and romance
• Flattery
• Lies
• Validation seeking
• Pretense
• Gaslighting
• Emotional blackmail
• Distraction
• Phishing

Most manipulators are weaker and less wise, but they have the secret weapon: how to manipulate. Therefore, it is good to build your mind and nurture certain traits as the keys to help you prevent manipulation.

The Following are Secret Keys to Seal Yourself from Manipulation

1. Regulate empathy

Empathy is the ability to feel, understand and share in the feelings of others. Simply put it as the ability to place oneself in someone else's shoes. Empathy is a virtue that everyone should have as it is one of the major elements of sympathy and charity. It can be hard or impossible to sympathize or offer anyone a sincere support when one lacks empathy. However, people who are empathetic are prone to manipulation.

Manipulators can take advantage of you if they realize that you care too much about them. Therefore, while being empathetic, try as well to moderate how much you display it so that it will not turnout to be a point of weakness for exploitation. Even when you feel it, apply logic and analyze the situation before acting, not according to your emotion. See the number 2 option below to learn more.

2. Prioritize critical thinking

Critical thinking means having to objectively analyze or evaluate any issue, situation, or information before making judgment. No matter how emotional, annoyed, or convinced you feel about an event, situation or message, do not respond instantly without analyzing or evaluating it. By evaluation, we mean validating the authenticity of the source, accuracy of the information, the best approach to the situation, the optional decision (if any), the best action or response, and the possible consequence of your chosen decision, response or action. Critical thinking helps you to know the true intention and how to deal with the situation. If you have critical thinking skill, it can be hard or impossible for people to take advantage of you.

3. Avoid being sentimental

Manipulators can exploit your personal sentiments to take advantage of you. For instance, in our previous publication, we made mention of affinity bias as one psychological strategy that manipulators use. In instance is where you are a racist who care only about people of your kind. Someone who wants to manipulate you will come as if he is of similar belief thereby gaining your trust.

4. Nurture high level of emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to know, control, and express emotion with sense or good judgment, thereby boosting interpersonal relationships. Having emotional intelligence enables one to control ones emotion during decision making without allowing emotion to override decision or totally ignoring emotion. When you have emotional intelligence, you can know when someone is playing games with your mind which may eventually enable you to evade manipulators. With emotional intelligence, you don't just listen or see, you feel it and judge it before action.

5. Build personal integrity

It is difficult to manipulate people who have strong moral principles and ethical values. Such individuals stand on what they believe thereby making it nearly impossible to rue them, especially if such strategy go against their moral stance. When you know what you represent and values that you cannot compromise, it is very hard for anyone to manipulate you.

6. Elevate your morale and self-confidence

Those who lack confidence are more prone to manipulation than those who have morale and self-confidence. Being shy and timid can make you do something out of will, even when you know it is a wrong decision. Being fearless and confidence enough to say "No" is a great way to prevent manipulation.

7. Learn to decode verbal, emotional and legal traps

Manipulators can set certain traps to place you at a tough situation where you lose your right and sanctity. You need to understand such schemes and detect them when someone comes against you with such strategy. Example of such traps may include convincing you to sign a deal or make a statement that is not out of your will. There are instances where people are being manipulated to share explicit materials or secrets, where such content can then be used as a threat of blackmail for easy manipulation. In such case, when someone demands something that may place you at such a tough situation, do not allow emotion, love or persuasion to make you a pawn.

8.  Know your strengths and weaknesses, and keep them secret

As we stated earlier, manipulators exploit your weak point and use that as a weapon. When you are able to identify your weaknesses, it is easier to protect yourself from exploitation and manipulation. Moreover, never you let people know your weak point because they would likely use that to take advantage of you.

9. Be goal-oriented and ambitiously grounded

Setting life-goals enable you to know your destination and objectives. When you are ambitious and goal-oriented, you become more focused and live above common distractions. One can be manipulated through distraction but someone that focuses on his goals can always live above distraction.

10. Have self-discipline

Individuals who have self-discipline do not fall to tricks and manipulations so easily. For instance, some manipulators can use immoral behaviors like seduction and erotic approaches to get what they want. With self-discipline, one cannot manipulate you through seduction, phishing or any of the related methods that has to do with excessive desires.

11. Know when to let go

The ability to know when to let go is a step ahead of any form of manipulation. When your the sacrifice you make to someone feels demanding or progressive, it could mean that you are being manipulated to keep going. Try to know when friendship or relationship feels toxic or you think its full of manipulation, find away to get out of it before it is too late.

12. Learning from every experience

Do not ignore any little experience you have while relating with people around you. It is a great mistake to misjudge because you think people are different. If you have had any past experience where someone took advantage of you or manipulated you, keep record of the strategies they used to get you. Once someone you currently associate with tries to apply a similar tactic as your previous manipulator, avoid such individual immediately because it will end in a similar way. Do not think it will get better, if the approach feels familiar; never doubt your instinct. 

Conclusion

Manipulation can come in many forms. However, you can always detect and beat any form of manipulation that comes your way. This article has offered some of the basic keys to help you prevent people from manipulating and taking advantage of you. Having this knowledge is the prerequisite to escaping their disappointments, especially in relationship, business, and many other areas of your life.

Share this article on your social media to inform your friends and family. Also subscribe to our newsletter to get updates whenever we make new publication.