So we’re going to be talking about energy!
It’s a topic I am really big on because every business needs energy and every successful entrepreneur needs energy.
It’s something that I have in abundance and one of the reasons I think that has contributed or I certainly believe has really contributed to my success.
No businesses are nine to five and the more energy you bring, I believe the more successful you will be. Now,
I work really hard on keeping my energy levels high. I choose to show up to every meeting, every situation I’m in, every day – my energy level is a choice but it takes a lot of energy to have this much energy all the time.
There are some things that you can do to make sure you have energy, you can eat well, you can have plenty of sleep and you can work on your exercise. All of those things are going to really help contribute to keeping your energy high. But, even when you make those things a priority, it’s not a perfect picture, it’s still not easy to keep that energy there all the time.
So today, I really want to focus on one of the strategies that I’ve discovered that really helps with my energy levels.
It’s something that I happened upon, is rarely talked about but something that can have an enormous impact on your emotional wellbeing and mental health. It feels obvious when you know about it, but until you really step back and think about it, you won’t maybe reflect on where this is happening in your life.
Now, if I think back to when I was in my twenties before I had kids, I used to be running all over the world. I was always taking flights to America in a different time zone, spending the whole flight working, cleaning down my inbox. I would work like a beast for a few days, get the red-eye back home and go straight into the office.
In my 20s, I could do that but in my 40s… it’s not so easy.
Post having kids, it’s just not sustainable and my body can’t physically cope with it anymore, my emotions are run ragged and let’s face it having kids can be emotionally taxing! It’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing but it is an enormous emotional drain that I didn’t have to cope with and factor into my life and my emotional and mental well-being before I’d had kids.
Now I’m in my 40s, I’m focusing more on my fitness, what I’m eating and making sure I get enough sleep. Even so, there are times when you feel that energy kind of ebb and flow away, and the whole ‘up and at ‘em, Sara’, can be a little bit more up and out.
So, I need ways to find more energy, or as I always term it, ‘topping up my tank’.
I think of myself as a car full of petrol, and I need to be regularly stopping at the service stations to top up my tank. And I need to be conscious of where I’m driving and what I’m doing that uses more fuel and more energy than others.
Now, I discovered something when I was on a call one day. I had shown up to work as high energy Sara but after this 30 minute call I was drained. It hadn’t been an overly taxing call from a strategic perspective but I was exhausted after and that’s when I realised that the person I’ve been on the phone with had been an energy vampire.
Energy vampires are the people who, if it’s a lovely sunny day, they don’t celebrate it, it’s too hot for them. They’re not really thinking about the fact that there’s been a beautiful sunset, they suck the energy out of every room, every conversation, every business – they are the worst things in your life.
So, with that being said, I want you to identify the energy vampires around you – you’ll all know who I’m talking about! And I want you to limit your exposure to those people.
It’s difficult for me because I’m an extrovert and everyone’s either an extrovert or an introvert or they are somewhere on the spectrum between the two and an extrovert takes their energy from the world around them and other people. An introvert finds that energy internally that’s why they’re introverted so I need to find all of my energy from other people.
I need an energy angel, someone who’s going to fill my tank up, who’s going to lift the mood, someone who’s always got a smile on their face, who’s always going to rejoice in your success. For a lot of people, I’m their energy angel and I consistently seek out positive people and I manage my exposure to the energy vampires. You can’t just cut them out because you will need these people in your life but ask yourself, who are the people who top up your tank or who you can get energy transfer? I spend time around them and I’m taking my energy from them as well as giving my energy to them.
So – how do you top up your tank?
For me, I love to go to a craft fair or meet our customers because it reminds me that we’re a business with purpose. Or if I can’t do that, I’ll go to one of our stores or I’ll be in the Facebook groups.
I want you to think about, are you an energy angel or an energy vampire? How are you going to consider that in your life and how do you want to be?
For me, I am someone who shows up consistently, consistency is a big thing for me.
And, I think the combination of those two things really makes for success. But I want you to think about where are you getting your energy from and who are you getting your energy from and how do you create more of that in your life. Then also, think about how you can reduce your exposure to those vampires!