When are you at your best, where you are doing excellent work and showing up for others because you have a full tank of the right type of energy or fuel to get work done? Many people drift through life unaware of their energy levels or how to harness them to thrive. Yet, energy management and being intentional about keeping your levels high are keys to long-term effectiveness. In The Power of Full Engagement, Tony Schwartz argues that it is more important than time, money, or any other kind of management.
Here are some helpful ways to effectively manage your energy:
1. Get clear on the fundamentals. Have you defined your purpose, values, vision, strengths, and goals? These categories will set the framework for all other things to follow and will be an energy multiplier when you spend time on activities aligned with these pillars.
1A. Purpose & Legacy. Purpose is your reason for waking up in the morning; it’s aspirational and has a movement orientation. If money was no question, it is the thing you would do because you are intrinsically driven by it. Too many people get caught up in the day-to-day that they become disconnected from what makes life truly worth living. Spending too much time on work not aligned with their purpose can be a depleting experience. Tuning into yourself and what you deeply care about will keep your tank full. One framework to capture your purpose is Ikagi, or in Japanese, the reason for being. It involves 4 components:
· What you are good at
· What you enjoy
· What the world needs
· What you can get paid for
When you discover things that fit into these four quadrants, it can be an energy-building experience.
Another approach to thinking about your purpose is to think about your legacy. What do you want to be known for 100 years from now? Apple Executive Angela Ahrendts had a great answer, she said “somebody who uplifted others as a wife, mom, and leader.” There is so much power in service. Ralph Waldo Emerson notes, “To know that one life has breathed easier because we have lived…that is to have succeeded.” Making others’ lives easier is a good guidepost for a satisfying life. Once you are clear on your legacy, you can arrange your day to be in alignment and experience fulfillment as you live your purpose, even if you do not get to witness the impact. A line from the play Hamilton captures this nicely: “What is a legacy except planting flowers in a garden that you never get to see.”
1B. Values. These are your motivators in life, the elements that you find most important and that drive you. For example, if you value learning, you will spend so much time on that activity because it is something you care about and enjoy. If you value adventure, the more you explore, the more energy you will have. It also helps with decision-making because when you make choices in accordance with your values, it brings you greater happiness and peace. Living your values is a great way to build energy and not expend it on trivial aspects.
1C. Vision. Do you have a vision for your life? Where do you want to be 1, 3, or 5 years from now? It is fine if you may still need to figure out all the details, but when you know where you are generally trying to go, it is an energy-building experience because you are taking meaningful steps in the direction that matters to you. A common regret of leaders is that they wish they were not always so overwhelmed by the present that they spent more time thinking about the future. Take time to sketch where you want to go.
1D. Strengths. Are you clear on what your talents are and how you deliver value? When you operate from a place of strength, you can do your best work and produce more joy and vitality. A Gallup study reveals people who use their strengths daily are 3x more likely to report having an excellent quality of life, 6x more likely to be engaged at work, 8% more productive, and 15% less likely to quit their jobs. You will be drained when working from weaknesses and on tasks that are not enjoyable or even frustrating.
1E. Goals. What do you want to accomplish in the short and long term so you are living your purpose and moving closer to your vision? How often do you set goals and make your activities align? I sometimes conduct a goal audit with my clients who are depleted and do not know why. When we list all the committees, task forces, or special projects they are a part of; they realize that they are spending more time on urgent than important tasks. Their life is filled with energy-sucking activities. Having clear goals will allow you to be more strategic about how you spend your time. Decision-making becomes easier if requests on your time are not in accordance with your goals; you simply say no to preserve your energy.
2. Defining and measuring success. A big part of managing your energy is taking time to define what success means to you. Many people may not be conscious of it; they may be using a definition they received from their parents or society. Is it having a lot of money, climbing the career ladder to land a fancy title at a big organization? Is it about fame, power, recognition, and luxury? If this is the case, what’s the cost? If it means working 18-hour days and not seeing your family, would you still label that successful? For others, maybe your definition of success is about running your own business, having a family, living a high-quality life, and doing work you love. Maybe it is about traveling the world and allowing places, people, and ideas to fuel your creativity. Only you know.
Whatever it is, you want to be clear on the underlining motive. You want to be VP by 40, maybe that comes from your desire to achieve and feel validated where you finally believe you can be worthy. It is common for many of us to have been shown love by how much we have accomplished so we move through life as an adult with that same script acquired when young. Or, maybe your motive is about delivering more value. It is helpful to tease apart your hidden motives and find the source because if you pursue the goal for the wrong reason or somebody else’s, you may end up lacking meaning and purpose, which can be an energy-depleting experience. You will feel more fulfilled if your goal is more about service and impact. I had one client who had a lucrative finance career but lacked something. When they got more in touch with their true intentions, they went into teaching and service and became much happier.
My first definition of success came from my parents who taught me to get an education and have a safe job with a pension; they prioritized security above all else. Combining their penchant for job security and my love of learning, I saw teaching as the perfect first profession. As I started getting more in touch with my entrepreneurial energy and considering starting my own leadership coaching and facilitation business, I battled challenging scripts loaded in me when I was young, I thought maybe I was crazy to give up something so predictable for a possible wild card. My family at the time thought I was foolish, and that I should be content with teaching because I have a job for life, especially during global uncertainties. Bucking pressure, I leaped and having had my own business for several years, I could not be happier and more alive. I get to combine my values of learning, impact, service, growth, creativity, and entrepreneurship and spend my waking moments helping others achieve their potential and accelerating their learning and leadership excellence. I dedicate so much time to the intersection of developing myself and others, and it is exhilarating. I had to relinquish that definition of success for one that was more in alignment with who I was. Wayne Dwyer said, “Don’t die with your music still in you.” If I never took this risk, I would have been living an incomplete existence because I would not have that conduit to express and share my gifts. When you speak your desires that are true to your soul, you get to live authentically, powerfully, and fully.
Once you have established your definition, you want to measure it. I measure success by how many people’s lives I positively change and the energy-building interactions I have, and I get feedback through verbal and written validations, which signal that I’m on the track I want to be. I also measure it by pursuing excellence and flourishing, meaning and satisfaction, striving and peace, and purpose and contribution. When I am clear on those metrics, I can focus on playing my game and not getting distracted by comparing myself to others and their goals or what they do in their games.
In 5 Regrets of the Dying, Bonnie Ware, a Palliative Care Nurse transformed her life by learning about the regrets of the people she cared for. For many, they wish they had the courage to live their lives and not the ones others wanted for them. Specifically, they had not worked so hard, had the courage to express feelings, stay in touch with friends, and let themselves be happier. While some say comparison can be the thief of joy because you can make yourself miserable by desiring what others have, it does not have to be that way. If you have an abundant mindset, you can be happy for others and appreciate your pursuits. You can use comparison as a tool for learning and motivation and find joy in avoiding stagnation.
3. Establish work-life flow. You can design your work life based on the fundamentals above and your definition of success. Whether you call it work-life balance, work-life integration, or work-life flow, it is vital to think about the major categories in your life, such as family, career, health, finances, and play, and map it out to see how they would fit together, which will allow you to make better choices based on what you care about and how you want to spend your time. Purpose becomes more essential when we contextualize it with the other aspects of our lives because there is usually this critical mix of dreams and duties. And the goal does not have to be to achieve balance which is hard because it means all aspects have to be equal; it is about rhythm, flow, fulfillment, and being intentional about your choices. Without this, you fall into default mode, where you are moving along but not being deliberate, and it is depleting. Once you have identified those vital aspects, you can organize your time based on how much you want to spend on each category to feel vitalized. What is the proper allocation to feel like you are winning at work and succeeding in life? We feel incomplete when we can have significant accomplishments at work, come home and feel like we are not the family person we want to be because our significant other and kids tell us that we are never home. Or when we are not exercising and eating well or doing the things that restore us because we are singly focused on work.
4. Setting morning and evening routines. Athletes, musicians, and performers usually have a routine that sets the conditions for their best performance. They may make sure they drink enough water, have a clear focus, and visualize what they want to do. Similarly, we can have morning and evening practices that maintain our daily physical and mental energy. What does your morning routine look like, and does it set you up on a high note to embrace your day? Does it include waking up from 8+ hours of sleep, a healthy breakfast, time sustaining your soul through reading, listening to something positive, meditating, planning your day, connecting with loved ones, and other things contributing to charging your battery? Similarly, how is your evening routine - do you spend time with loved ones, plan for the next day, do breathing exercises, listen to something inspiring, meaningfully connect with loved ones, read in bed, and be sure to get your 8 hours of restorative sleep? How you start and end the day makes a big difference to your energy because it provides a solid foundation to go the distance and better deal with stress. Too many people treat life like a sprint and aim to survive rather than having consistent habits that continually restore you.
5. Match your energy levels with the appropriate activity. Being effective is not about doing more but being strategic in working and harnessing your best energy. In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Daniel Pink talks about the time of the day having a significant impact on our performance. Most of us have a peak, troth, and recovery cycle, where we have the highest energy in the morning, dip in the afternoon, and then, experience a second wind. If this applies to you, you should do your most demanding and best thinking during your peaks, such as writing and designing programs; your shallow activities, such as administrative tasks like sending emails during your troth; and having meetings and socializing during your recovery time. You want to match your biological makeup to your work for maximum results.
Everybody is different, we just want to be in tune with how we are through the day because it matters in the quality of our thinking and decisions. So, reading books about the importance of being a part of the 5:00 am club, where you wake up early to get all your work done may be damaging to you if you are not a morning person. Research shows that most car accidents occur from 2 pm-4 when people are tired, and energy is low. Judges are more likely to grant parole in the morning when their thinking is fresh, but as the day goes on, they are less likely to do it because it requires more consideration, they are fatigued so they choose a default option of no parole. How we structure our day based on our energy will impact our performance and mindset throughout the day.
With intentionality, you can optimize your energy and live your desired life. It all starts with taking the time to do the introspective work, being honest about your current reality, get clear on who you are and what you want to be doing that fills, and not empties your soul.
Quote of the day: “A person doesn’t need brilliance or genius, all they need is energy.” – Author Albert Greenfield
Q: What are your most energizing practices? How do they map to your purpose? Comment and share below; we would love to hear from you!
The next blog in this series 2/8 will focus on investing in the body as a gateway to more energy.
As a leadership development and executive coach, I work with leaders to create effective personal energy management systems for themselves and their teams, contact me to explore this topic further.
Manager your personal energy for great success