“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
This all sounds good, but there is a catch to managing your energy, and when you understand what it is, you might want to consider making some changes in your life.
First, let’s consider some perspectives on energy as it relates to human beings. It can be a mix of things: physical, emotional and psychological – an holistic thing that ebbs and flows.
The Māori term Mauri, which means life force or essence, is a wonderful description. And there is that unique moment when alignment between our self, our work, nature, each-other occurs - sometimes described as in flow. Energy is the force
that can get work done and deliver change - Sometimes we are able to notice another dimension where-by combining our skills and efforts with others, the emergent product is greater than the sum of the inputs.
OK, so what is the catch?
We know that we only have a certain amount of energy and it gets used on both negative and positive things in our life.
The catch is, the first place it goes to is the negatives in life.
Yes, the way the world works is that our good energy is going to get drained by the negatives straight off. Only what is left is what we get to apply for positive affect. Its a bit like a law of physics.
Let’s look at some examples of where our energy goes first:
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Ill health, sickness – of self, family, friends
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Physically dangerous environments
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Distracting or confusing media and news
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Toxic organisational cultures or policies
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Poor awareness, strategy and plans
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Difficult relationships or phases in relationships
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Lack of alignment and teamwork
It shouldn’t be any surprise that if we have negative stuff going on in our life that we don’t feel like we have any energy for the positive. And it may be that our situation is very difficult to alter as well, especially for those with illness or disability. The point being is that everyone’s situation is relative and
personal.
The first action to take is to become aware of and work on removing any ‘drag’ that we can. Perhaps it is time to create some more room and energy for ourselves by resetting expectations with others, if we
can.
Becoming aware of where our energy is going is often an energising step in itself!
And so is creating our own pathway forward. Any change need not be a fast process or knee jerk reaction; some situations just take time to work through. Here are some tips:
Refocus, Rethink, Refresh, Reconnect/connect…
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Stop and reflect on where your energy is going now
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Get clear on what matters – make your own choices
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Get together with colleagues - old and new - plot something new
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Talk things through, reset expectations
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Help others find ways to use their energy better
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Let go of limiting beliefs or habits
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Have realistic expectations and colleagues that help you achieve them
We have learnt that the energy we have to put into the things we want to create or have happen in our life is what we have left after the negatives are subtracted.
Have you noticed any while reading?
How many negatives we allow to exist in our life are related to both our fundamental life circumstances (some of which are immoveable) and to the consequences of our own actions, most of which are a matter of choice.
This week’s quote:
“In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of
choices.”
– Dr. Kathleen Hall
