Protecting yourself from a narcissist.
The best recommendation is no contact and to stay away from the narcissist. When you have children with them, or if you might lose genuine family members or can not change jobs straight away, no contact is not always possible.
Without awareness, a narcissist is extremely hard to identify. Many narcissists fool trained professionals.
If they are abusive, it doesn’t matter if they are a narcissist or not. You need to stay safe.
Finding out about narcissism can help you work through all your whys? And give you an understanding of what’s happened to you. If they are not a narcissist, however, they are emotionally, Financially, physically, psychologically, mentally abusive towards you, you still need to get out.
It’s unhealthy for you to stay in an abusive relationship, hoping the other person will change. You need to help yourself get out and find your own happiness.
When it comes to a narcissist, you are not in a relationship. You’re in a hostage situation with someone who manipulates you and continues to hurt you. Your job isn’t to help them. It’s to get out safely.
Boundaries.
Love isn’t enough with a narcissist. You have to create boundaries and protect yourself.
Boundaries are not agreements you make with other people or to negotiate your boundaries with other people. Boundaries are your way of saying, this is what I’ll accept, this is what I’ll not accept, boundaries are yours for you, and that’s your way of saying yes or no. Stick with what you want for your own happiness.
When you put your boundaries in place and enforce them, you don’t need to look for red flags in others, as you’ll have your own deal-breakers. Anyone who disrespects you and your boundaries they have no place in your life.
When it comes to narcissistic people, they don’t respect other people’s boundaries, instead narcissists see boundaries as a challenge to be crossed and taken down. Narcissists do their best to break boundaries. That is just what narcissistic people do. They only see it from their way. They will try different manipulative tactics to get you to break your boundaries.
You have to mean what you say and say what you mean, and you are in charge of yourself and your boundaries, then you have to enforce your boundaries and stay true to yourself.
When you’ve got strong boundaries, you can cut negative people from your life.
Genuine people, if you said you didn’t like something they’ve said or done, would listen to you, communicate with you, apologise if they needed to, like you would them, then not do it again.
Toxic people will do all the blame-shifting things such as, “you’re too sensitive.” “You’re miserable.” ”You’re boring.” “That didn’t happen.” “I was only joking.” “You’re awkward.” “You’re selfish.” To make you doubt yourself so they can walk all over your boundaries again when they do this, that’s your cue to walk away. They don’t respect you or your feelings, or your values and beliefs, they feel entitled to get their own way.
Reasonable people can try once to get you to change your mind on something, and then they would drop it. Narcissistic people will try different tactics time and time again.
Yes, it can be hard to walk away from people, but those who don’t respect you, they don’t care about you.
Boundaries are what protect your happiness, and it’s how you respect yourself.
No reaction.
You also need to control your response. Giving the narcissist no reaction, you can not defend yourself against a narcissistic person. They don’t care. They’re just focused on your emotional reactions. They want to bait you into reacting. They want you to justify, defend, explain yourself to them, so they can take these very explanations and blame everything on you, they want to use them plant seeds of doubt into your mind, so they can make out through your reactions that’s you’re the problem to distract you from their actions.
Intuition.
Covert it is hard to recognise covert manipulation because they always have an excuse, “you’re crazy.” “you’re still hung up on your exes.”
Your intuition will have been speaking to you throughout the relationship, yet you’ll have most likely pushed it down. Intuition is knowing without knowing. You don’t have to go through all the steps to know. You just have to listen to it.
You may have no proof. You do not need proof. You don’t need to rationalise. You just need to listen to your instincts. They are there to protect you.
Grey Rock.
Grey rock, you are the rock, be as boring as possible to them, no chit chat. Only talk about things that have to be discussed. With grey rock, less is more. The less you speak to them, the less they can use against you. Stick to plans, don’t argue no is no.
They will try lots of tactics to get a reaction from you. When you have to talk to them, give them no emotions, no nothing, just say “ok” no smile, no smirk, no tears, no nothing, you have to look upon them as a stranger and give nothing, make your voice as dull as possible, then they’ve got nothing to run on. They might up the game when you first start creating boundaries, and you’ll notice the pattern of their games soon enough.
So boundaries and stick with them, no matter what the narcissist throws your way.
When they are coming at you retreat and recognise the game they are playing, rethink as to the reason why they are playing that game, reflect that their behaviour says more about their games than it ever will you, only respond if you need to do so, using grey rock.
Response. Short, simple to the point answers if they are needed.
If not, no response and no reaction.
Listen to your instinct at all times.
The less attention you give them, they will become less interested in you, as they’re getting nothing from you.
Remember, there is no right way or wrong way to live your life with good intentions; there is only your way. 
Boundaries.
Grey rock.
Stop explaining.
Click the links below to join, Elizabeth Shaw – Life Coach on social media, for more information on Overcoming Narcissistic Abuse.
The courses Elizabeth Shaw has available.
The full course.
Click here for the full course to help you understand and break free from narcissistic abuse.
The free course.
Click here to join the free starter guide to breaking free from narcissistic abuse.
Help with overcoming trauma bonding and anxiety.
Click for help overcoming the trauma bond and anxiety.
All about the narcissist Online course.
Click here for more information about the narcissist personality disorder.
Recovery from narcissistic abuse and help with Co-Parenting.
Click here for more information on recovery and co-parenting with a toxic ex.
For 1-2-1 Coaching with me, email @ beyourselfagaintoday@gmail.com
Elizabeth Shaw is not a Doctor or a therapist. She is a mother of five, a blogger, a survivor of narcissistic abuse, and a life coach, She always recommends you get the support you feel comfortable and happy with. Finding the right support for you. Elizabeth has partnered with Click here for BetterHelp. (Sponsored.) Where you will be matched with a licensed councillor, who specialises in recovery from this kind of abuse.
