Recharge Your Battery
This is something that I thought I was good at.
Unfortunately, we often all need a wake-up call every once in a while.
I had one, or more than one, recently.
People often say that they’re tired. Tired of what? Why are we tired?
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Maybe we feel like we are giving too much.
Maybe we feel like we are not giving enough.
Maybe we feel like we are not getting enough in return. Why? Who is to judge?
We all communicate differently and we all get energy from different things.
Some people are extraverts and some are introverts. But, there are extraverts who are more shy and there are introverts who are more social. We have to understand who we are and what gives us energy so that we can manage our energy better.
What people are you surrounded by when you feel most energetic?
What actions or things are you doing when you feel the most energetic?
On the flip side then also…
What people are you surrounded by when you feel the most drained?
What actions of things are you doing when you feel the most drained?
I believe that the first step of managing energy is to become aware of the things that impact our energy.
If we don’t know what gives us more energy, how do we manage the energy that we do have without knowing what drains our energy?
We can try to manage something all that we want but, if we do not understand the way that we gain and lose energy, we will run out.
How many people do you know that live for the weekends?
There could be many reasons for this. Yet, here is one:
People need to re-energize, and may not know how to during the week.
I’ll look at myself.
Sometimes I sleep late at night, I know I won’t rejuvenate my energy this way.
Sometimes I eat unhealthy food. I know I won’t rejuvenate my energy this way.
Sometimes I overcommit myself. I know I won’t rejuvenate my energy this way.
How will I rejuvenate my energy is quite different than any of those things.
Sleeping late at night will only drain energy because, as a result, I will be able to have fewer hours of actual sleep time. It is common knowledge that sleep provides energy.
Eating unhealthy foods will only drain energy because of the low quality of the food. Carbohydrates provide more energy than do simple sugars.
Finally, overcommitting runs my energy dry sometimes.
I look to live by the quote, “How you do anything is how you do everything”
Overcommitting makes it difficult for me to do everything in the way I’d like to.
So, those are things that I know drain my energy, now how do I manage it?
Managing energy returns me to priorities. What is the most important thing for my day as a whole and for my life as a whole?
This is where energy should go first, the priorities.
As I consider what is most important to me, I think about also how much energy I need to invest in everything.
We have to remember that we are all different but, we do not need to compare ourselves to others.
“A person who is happy is not because everything is right in his life, he is happy because his attitude towards everything in his life is right” — Sundar Pichai
How do we increase the energy that others have? How do we lead others and ensure that our energy is contagious?
We uplift them and we add detail.
When we ask for help, that doesn’t mean that we are asking for everything that a person is, we are asking for a part of them. We need to express that clearly to people. Otherwise, people will be drained more easily. We are not trying to take their energy, just receive some of the things that others have to offer.
When people ask of us, that does not always mean that they want all of us, we do not need to give someone all of us. Sometimes, all they want is a helping hand, all they want is someone to listen, all that they may want is a little insight or advice.
By understanding what is most important to us and what energizes us, we can manage our energy better. By understanding what others are seeking from us, we can manage our energy better. By embracing our true selves, we can use our energy in the best way.
When we manage our energy well and sustain our energy, we find joy, we keep joy, we embrace joy.
“Comparison is the thief of joy” — Theodore Roosevelt