If you’re in a meeting and another participant is toxic or becomes negative towards you and your work — that’s a free lunch opportunity.

You can allow that person’s interactions with you to not become personal. You can choose to see them as valueless to you. You can decided that spending nothing on engaging with that person’s interactions will give you back something much greater — contentment and energy.

That suggestion might be hard to implement. I admit, I’m still working on it. What works for me is to find humor in the situation — laugh it off. Humor, for me, is a great mechanism to re-frame life’s challenges while costing me very little and getting a lot back. Like most things, more easily said than done; but with intentional practice, you’ll start seeing gains and peace.