It’s not uncommon for us to look down at our phones and wonder where the battery life went. It can merely be a few hours and we are almost fully drained and left scratching our heads as to how that happened. We forget that we have already checked emails, responded to texts, peeped all our social media profiles, listened to music, mapped or Uber-ed somewhere and likely used our Starbucks app. The real kicker is we often forget to log out and while everything keeps running in the background, we are unknowingly sucking our virtual lifeline dry.
As the saying goes, “how you do anything is how you do everything”. So if we can do this with something as vital as our phones, where else in our lives are we doing it? How much energy are we leaking that we wind up depleted, defeated and plain old burnt out?
Most importantly, what do we do to change it?
They key is to start at the beginning. What is the optimized state you desire to be in? What does being fully charged look and feel like to you? What are the values that support and energize you? The more aware you become of what powers you up, the more capable you are to seek out, seize and capitalize on it. In the end, all we’re chasing are the feelings we desire. It’s never the money we crave, it’s the freedom or security it provides that satiates us. Knowing that, it would be silly to make decisions merely hoping those feelings will eventually arrive. Instead, you would be better served to START with those feelings and only make choices that generate more rather than less of them. (hint: ALL feelings are ALWAYS available to us. We take outward action to get an inward result, yet the feelings we crave inside don’t reside outside of us)
Once we know what powers us up, we need to unplug from what DOESN’T. This is a toughie but totally doable. This step is mostly about observing where fear is trying to take the wheel and then politely asking it to take a backseat. (We aren’t throwing the baby out with the bathwater here. It can still point out potholes, but it can no longer gun it in the wrong direction). This step is important because we often agree to things that zap our energy out of fear. Yes, I’ll do that job for fear of not having enough income, but it will cost me my sanity. Yes, I will stay in this relationship for fear of being alone, but it will keep me from true happiness. Yes, I will starve myself for fear of not having a slim enough figure, but it will deprive me of nutrients. We have to be careful here, it’s a slippery slope. The more we obligate ourselves to what we fear we must do, the more energy we lose to expectations and resentments. If instead, we choose to invest in what we value, we benefit not only by energizing but magnetizing more of the return we want from that investment.
At this point, you have identified what fires you up and disconnected from what powers you down. Now it’s about establishing a sustainable connection to self-generate energy rather than outsource it. When you do that, you will always be fully charged and never left with a dying phone when you need to make a critical call. This is also where you catch the viruses before they have a chance to deploy and destroy. The best protection you have here is the asset of your awareness. Just like your phone needs updates, the ability to block certain infiltrators and moments to “re-start”, so do you.
That means, being sure you are consistent in taking energy inventory. If you had a store, you would need to know if you’re making or losing money, the same is true with owning and managing your energy. Check in. What are your top values? Are your choices aligned or unaligned with them? How do you desire to feel as a result of living those values? Do you feel that way or far from it? Where and what do you need to unplug from and how will you connect to the source of the power you desire? Check your interpretations, because sometimes Siri gets it wrong and same is true for us. What are we making things mean and is there another perspective, option or avenue available that is more motivating than depleting?
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Energy is key. So become your own energy expert and and watch how efficiently super-charged your world becomes.
Power up loved ones and go be electric!