“Where energy goes focus flows”, Tony Robbin’s.
I love this quote. It’s spot on. But what happens if we can’t muster much energy in the first place?If we look back at our top performing and best days where we rocked productivity, were creative, had a break-through on a problem or kept a calm head while all around us was in chaos, it is likely to be when we felt full of beans, fresh, positive and raring to go. When the personal battery was full and we were energised.
Yet achieving this state of full energy consistently is tough because we have so much draining our personal power supplies.
It’s easy to point the finger at poor sleep as the main energy killer. For many, it can be, and good sleep hygiene is one of the best boosting strategies you can start with. Yet, even with a good night sleep, many people can still feel like their energy reserves are running low and it’s not enough to unlock their best performing self.
Energy zappers are often linked to our vices and many are relatively easy to spot. Watching TV late into the night, alcohol, poor diet, lack of fresh air, low or no exercise, social media surfing and addiction to our smartphones are often big culprits.
However, what about those other less obvious things such as the way we work? If we don’t have good systems, are poorly organised, have poor diary management, don’t take breaks, don’t set goals or are not playing to our strengths we are wasting energy both physically and mentally.
One area which crops up with my clients a lot is the amount of energy lost through competition and comparison. If we get caught up trying to keep up with others we can waste too much energy focusing ourselves in the wrong direction. It’s exhausting the mind games we can play on ourselves.
Plus, what about the people in our lives? All too often it is those around us that can power us up or exhaust us. People energy drainers can be spotted by the negative emotions they create within us, the time they require from us or the activities they lead us into (often our vices!). In fact, it’s not just who we spend time with which needs consideration. It’s how much time you are spending with people vs being alone which is too often overlooked. Taking an account of who is in your life and how they affect your energy levels can be eye-opening.
Short term self-correction of a lot of our energy zappers can be done relatively simply with a quick audit, but being able to be disciplined and stay on track with your behaviour takes greater focus, attention, motivation and habit change. This can only be achieved with a deep understanding of the causes and triggers, strong self-awareness and openness to take personal responsibility and ownership of all we do and think. It requires shifts in mindset and beliefs. Then it’s easier to find the personal strategies which will help you recalibrate your internal and external operating systems. Attend to your energy zappers and you’ll achieve more and be able to make every day a best day.