03/31/2026
You must beware energy vampires 🧛♀️ Yes.… but no, you cannot always avoid them.
Last week, I met a formidable one - on a Teams call.
Dismissive. Arrogant. No willingness to learn or meet another where mutual understanding could exist. Disparaging of social media and those who use, rely on, or even build livelihoods through it. Entirely self-absorbed.
And yet, what stayed with me longer than the interaction itself…
was the residue.
The reliving of that brief exchange.
The quiet burn.
That almost toxic suffocation that lingered far beyond the call.
That is where the real work begins.
Because while we don’t plan these encounters,
how long we entertain or suffer them - is a choice.
Especially in spaces that are not authoritative -
social, professional, peer-to-peer, networked environments.
It is not your obligation
to allow someone to deplete your energy,
diminish your motivation,
or erode your sense of self-worth -
not in the moment,
and certainly not for days… or worse, weeks.
You did not choose the episode.
But you can choose to switch it off.
You can excuse yourself.
No elaborate reasons. No justifications.
You are urgently needed elsewhere.
You remembered something important.
You need to step away.
“Thank you—I’ll reach out to plan this better sometime.”
And chances are…
that “sometime” may never need to come.
Boundaries are not abrupt.
They are intentional.
And protecting your energy
is not avoidance -
it is leadership.
