All of us know at least one person we would class as 'difficult'. And dealing with them can lead to miscommunication, irritation and even stress, resentment and anger.

Yet there are some expert strategies you can apply to turn that difficult person into the greatest of gifts. Are you ready to turn things around?

Back in my corporate days, we used to spend a fortune on training courses with titles like 'dealing with difficult people' or 'managing conflict'. Yet they rarely worked?

Why?

Because they all seemed to focus on how to 'put up with' the difficult behaviour and how to 'work round it'. The management courses were even worse, training bosses how to either get the difficult person to change - or manage them out of the business.

The two fundamental principles behind difficult people

You can't change other people
We're part of the dance so, at some level, we are feeding their difficult behaviour

What on earth can we do about it?

Rather than banging our heads against a brick wall, we can actually turn a difficult person into our greatest learning gift.

How???

When you condemn another person for something, you are only condemning the aspects of yourself that you dislike, that you are seeing within them. They are acting as a mirror to us of a trait we have, but often don't want to acknowledge. The more their behaviour annoys us, the more urgently we need to deal with it, within ourselves.
They are allowing us to grow, by practising patience, being more tolerant, less judgemental and developing more flexible behaviour. It's easy to get on with people we like - people who think like us. But life is so much richer if we can also enjoy getting to know people with other viewpoints and preferences. Without growth, we stagnate.

So next time you come across someone being difficult, how about doing something different?

How about saying a silent "thank you", then consciously choosing to look for the gift they're bringing us?

If you're on your happiness journey and would like some happiness quick fixes, there are great, easy techniques you can apply right now, to start feeling happier in less than 5 minutes.

Claim your copy of "5 Secrets To Feeling Happier Now" by going to [ http://www.howtofeelhappier.com ] and looking for the sign up box in the top right hand corner.

From Clare Josa, author, seminar leader and expert coach for How To Feel Happier