Photo Courtesy: FilterForge
The number one most important thing you do is to create energy. That’s right, it is numero uno. Why? Because everything else you do depends on it. Every synapse that fires in your brain, every word you speak, every muscle you move – every beat of your heart depends on it. Want to perform better? Want to get more done? Want to be more creative? Create more energy.
How Do You Create Energy?
Energy is something that most of us take for granted. We tend to focus on time management, rather than energy management. You cannot create more time – there are still only 24 hours in the day – but you can create more energy, and the better you are at creating energy, the better you will be at everything else.
In order to maximize your personal energy, you have to understand what works for you. The fundamentals are the same for everyone – sleeping, eating, breathing, but beyond that, everyone is a little bit different and you need to understand what makes you tick.
The Power of Passion
What are the things that you love doing most? What are the things that you can lose yourself in for hours and come away feeling more energized, alive, and fired up than when you started? Cycling? Hiking? Cooking? Gardening? Playing with the kids, or playing music? Everybody is different. What are you passionate about? Those are the activities that are often our greatest sources of energy – the things we are up for even when we are hungry or tired.
Tip #1: Identify your most important sources of energy
Prioritize Energy Creation
If you are doing the things you love all day, everyday, congratulations! You are a rare bird. For many people however, the things they love to do most are shoehorned into their lives and they are often bumped off the schedule by other pressing items. They are viewed as optional non-essential nice-to-haves. But the truth is, if you want to be at your best – if you want to be more productive, more creative, more engaged, more focused, and healthier – your energy creation activities need to be the priority.
Tip #2 – Prioritize Energy Creation
The Power of Habit
You probably don’t have to think about whether or when you will you will eat today, or whether or when you will sleep. They are ingrained habits. The key to maximizing your energy is to make the other energy-creating activities (i.e. your passions) ingrained habits as well. The most important thing you can do to create those habits is to schedule those energy creation activities – every day, every week. The simple act of putting something on your calendar instantly doubles your chances of following through.
Try to make sure you are re-energizing yourself in some way at least once a day. It doesn’t have to take hours. Oftentimes a 20 minute break to do something that re-energizes you, like taking a short walk, chatting with friends, meditating, reading – whatever lights your fire – can make all the difference.
Tip #3 – Schedule energy creation and make it a habit
If you are anything like me, you are probably a bit skeptical. Why bother? But do yourself a huge favor and try this for a few weeks. You will quickly see what a huge difference it makes.
Next time we’ll talk about how you can most effectively use all this new energy you are going to have!
