Has this ever happened to you that you have bought a home with a fantastic view and have been achieving everything on your new year’s resolution? Still, faced with criticism, lack of appreciation, and side-eyes within your friend circle? The chances are high that your friends might be jealous of your success.
Such a thing is acceptable as long as it takes the shape of healthy competition. However, it is not healthy anymore if things are getting out of hand and have started to impact relationships.
You are not to be blamed, though. Such changes often arise with people having insecurities and issues within themselves. Making distance, passive-aggressive behavior, and silent treatment are just some of the signs to watch out for.
This blog explores 9 signs your friends are jealous of your success and 3 ways you can deal with it.
The 9 Signs that show your friends are jealous of your success
1. They exaggerate the compliments and make false encouragement:
Do you have that friend who sends long texts messages with compliments on your achievements and showers you with loads of false encouragement? That’s there. Such a friend will suddenly become overly proud of you and yet count your flaws while celebrating your big moment!
2. They begin to copy your ways to fit in:
It is flattering when someone borrows ideas from you, but it gets supremely annoying when someone is trying to replace you by acting like you. Watch out!
3. They are great at giving bad advice, all the time:
Whatever you do, they are there to find faults in it. And if you are looking for a piece of advice, they are always there to either discourage you in the name of concern or will give you advice that will further make life more miserable for you.
4. They are overly competitive:
Who doesn’t love healthy competition? Not a jealous friend for sure! They just cannot see you win and are always around to pull you down in an effort to dilute your achievements.
5. They don’t care unless it bothers them:
Know that they don’t care about the usual things in your life. They are there to ruin your moments of joy, spillover your achievements and dismiss your hard work. They find your success and progress difficult to digest.
Related: How To Deal With Jealous People: 9 Effective Ways
6. Your failures excite them:
You failed your driver’s license test and have that one friend who is joking around how petty your common sense is—bragging how easy the test is and how they passed it in one go! Your failures are the sauce to their happiness.
7. They make you doubt yourself:
They cannot see you being certain of anything. If you are planning to wear a dress out for a date, they will point out how loud the color is, why it is totally a no-no for the restaurant you are going to, or how the food there is stale (followed by a rainbow of bad advice). They want you to be in doubt and even keep them in CC whenever making a plan!
8. They are never around to celebrate your success but are always on the stage to downplay your achievements:
You tend to get hate for no reason from them. An embarrassing situation is their center stage to downplay your accomplishments and even attack your credibility in front of others! Your success and appeal in a crowd is their biggest nightmare.
9. They dismiss your decisions:
Your emotions, feelings, and even decisions are nothing to them. They would go to the extent of criticizing you for no reason! You got a new sofa (in your favorite color) that you have desired for ages, and the friend goes – “oh, it’s great but don’t you think this color is a little out of place? Maybe you can get a replacement?”. They criticize you for the smallest of things and make you want to shrink into a shell!
Indeed, such a friend is a challenge to handle. But here’s the thing – you are not responsible for how and what they feel or act.
Related: How Not to Be Jealous: 6 Strategic Ways
Here’s what you should totally do:
- Talk it out: It is worth noting that all of this could simply be insecurities acting aloud and going out of control. Maybe they are scared of losing how things are between you two because of recent life changes. Maybe they feel stagnant while you are moving at the speed of light! Speak with them to understand what they are afraid of. Tell them how important they are & how much you want to help them scale in life as well!
- Walk-in their shoes: Have they recently experienced setbacks in areas you are excelling at? Chances are they might be feeling inadequate and insufficient. Their behavior could be simply the frustration of not being at the top with you!
- Make them genuinely feel valued: Everyone wants to be appreciated and be told nice things. It’s human nature! So if your friend has been acting out of their usual selves, it is a great idea to tell them how valuable they are to you and are super proud of them! Be genuine with everything you have to say, and rest assured, things will fall in place!
Friends are the family we get to choose. If you are around a friend who acts jealous, either find a way to resolve things back to normal or let go of those who are constantly pulling you down. Relationships are meaningful but not at the cost of losing your self-worth.
