In this solo podcast episode, Steve Lichtman expands on his earlier discussion of haters by introducing the "Kindness Steamroller" approach to dealing with online trolls and negative actors, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and X. He argues that the most effective response is to "drown" trolls with genuine kindness and grace, offering a simple script (“I appreciate the passion, hope your day’s turning around”) that can either soften the aggressor, expose them as a bot, or cause them to retreat. Lichtman frames this as a three‑way win: the troll becomes calmer, doubles down and looks foolish, or disappears entirely. He emphasizes that grace is the ultimate power move—rolling over any jab with kindness disarms the attacker and can even convert a potential bot or hostile user into a future contributor. Throughout, he stresses the importance of maintaining "immaculate vibes"—high‑energy, positive presence that leaves no room for negativity to affect you. The episode closes with a reminder to stay unshakeable, keep your content and self‑worth high, and let kindness be your defensive armor.
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Hey folks, in today's episode, it's kind of tailing a little bit off of what we talked about in episode 26 when we talked about haters. And what I'm calling this is the kindness steamroller because, you know, it's something people deal with way more and I've been noticing it way more on LinkedIn especially. I mean, Instagram's always been a disaster. X is a, is a battleground daily, but the trolls and the bots have been increasing every single day, and I wanted to hit this one more time just for a few minutes so that way in this run of episodes, at least you're, you're really understanding what I mean about not wasting your time on bad people, right? Because bad people build rubbish. If a troll hits you from, from the side and you don't see it coming, drown them with kindness. Just drown them with kindness until they go away. I promise you, if you try to help them, they're gonna leave. And they're gonna stop bothering you. So you could say something like, hey, I appreciate the passion. Hope your day's turning around, buddy. That kind of puts it on them, right? Either they're gonna soften up and they're gonna chill and they're gonna be cool and they're gonna be a, maybe even a productive member of your, your socials in your community, or they're gonna double down and look like total jerk-offs and foolish and they'll vanish. So you really win. It's really 3 ways, right? They're either gonna get softer and they're gonna chill. They'll double down and look like an idiot, or they'll disappear on their own. So that's 3 wins in a row. Take 'em. It gets these people out of your world. It gets these people where they understand that they're just not welcome because cruelty is always gonna starve without a fight. And people are so cruel to each other on the internet and in social medias and in the world these days. It, it takes somebody a little stronger. It takes somebody with a little more wherewithal, and it just takes somebody with a lot more kindness in their heart for the people that aren't feeling that. And they, and the reason they don't feel it, we could talk about that for years about why they're being trolls and why they're so sucky and, and why they're trying to crap in other people's yards and all that good stuff. But at the end of the day, And this is gonna be the riff of the day too. Grace is the ultimate power move. Think about that for a minute. Your next win or your next quick win is just the next time somebody throws a jab your way, just roll 'em over. Just steamroll that sucker with kindness and just watch it disarm them every single time. It. It becomes too powerful. You're gonna swarm them with kindness in a way where they're gonna realize that either they're a jerk, they're a bot, and if they're a bot, they'll probably bounce, or there's somebody who has the potential to change and actually become somebody that down the road might provide value and content in your world. So keep your vibes high. People can't touch great vibes. You know, the, the Knicks talk about this all the time. Immaculate vibes, right? That's what the boys say on the Roommates podcast that they have with Jalen and Josh and, and crew. Immaculate vibes. If you're providing immaculate vibes every day, well then the haters, the trolls, the miserable people, they've got absolutely nowhere to go and they've got absolutely nothing they can do to you. So with that, I'm Steve Lichtman and this has been Unfiltered and Unshakeable. And stay unshakeable. Don't let these trolls ever get the best of you because you're better than that. Your content's better than that, and you as a person are better than that. Take it easy.
