Tag: energy

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Greatness can exist in both “good” and “bad” times.

Greatness is an outcome.

We have a part to play in any outcome. Outcomes have many factors, one of which is the decisions that we make.

Because of this notion, reacting is a dangerous thing. What feels right at the moment could be catastrophic in the end.  When we react, we don’t consider. We just do.

Responding is often better.  Take a breath. Let the situation slow down. Consider the other possible outcomes. Then decide.

 

Remember, we may not have a choice in what happens to us. We do, however, have an opportunity in changing how we respond.

We don’t have to look for greatness; it’s already here. The environment will create the opportunity. It is your job to take advantage.

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There is an Energy Limit

YourEverything you spend time on

You pay the price.

Nothing is free. Every time you do something, you take from something else.

This concept: opportunity cost.

The official definition:

op·por·tu·ni·ty cost
noun

ECONOMICS
  1. the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.
    “idle cash balances represent an opportunity cost in terms of lost interest”

Are you wasting time on something? Your time has a limit.

What is it and how can you get rid of it?  Tomorrow is a new day.

Don’t waste energy. Sometimes it is better to quit.

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Dismiss Sound and Distraction

I have a white noise machine

It sits in my office, where I use it far less than I should.

What is a white noise machine?

It is a machine that pumps out consistent sound, designed to help you focus.

Why should I use it?

I find it to be one of the most useful tools in honing my concentration. When I try to do my work with ambient noise or even worse, a podcast, I write slower.

This is a lesson.  When you need to focus, look for an opportunity to eliminate the noise or replace it with something like white noise.

Every part of your body requires energy.

Try shutting down the ones you don’t want to use.

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Slowing Down Is Important

Projects don’t last forever

If the roadmap looks like a race course, I like to visualize. The end of that race turns into a finish line, and I know I need to slow down at a certain point.

We all need to stop sometimes.

It is tough to start, anything. Getting over the emotional and mental barriers to create something new is hard. We build momentum, and it propels us through our goal.

Energy is powerful because it helps us push through.

We cannot entirely rely on momentum because momentum doesn’t stop. Without considering the strategy of the moment, momentum turns from friend to foe.

We obliterate the last mile, and we stop being helpful.

Whenever you start a project, consider what could make you stop and what success “looks like.” From there, you can find out when to halt the momentum and get the idea to where it needs to go.

It’s great to ride an airplane only if you know it is going to gracefully land.

 

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Shut Down Those Energy Vents

Our energy is sacred

Energy, along with time, is a principal actor that decides how we “show up.”

It is an incredibly hard thing to balance.

Our days and nights continually fill with distractions, some designed with energy draining in mind.

On the other hand, energy is frightening to store. It feels good to release our energy into something. It allows us to point to that “something” to prove we are somebody.

In is in the spirit of this that we create “vents” for our energy to spill out.

They show the world we are up to something and allow us not to deal with the fear of storing energy.

These vents take many forms, from unnecessary side projects, to “communities” we join at work, and even to relationships we create and support.

Be bold.

Take time to recognize these vents, and shut them down when you can. The result resembles a ventilation system. Every one one you close makes the rest of the system stronger.

Don’t create any “new holes.” Make sure you dig your current holes deeper.

 

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Don’t Emulate Robots

Don't Emulate Robots

Our efficiency relies on “no.”

When new projects happen, keep three things in mind:

  • Every day we walk around with a limited supply of energy.
  • Every task we take on consumes a part of that energy.
  • There is a willpower tax for doing things we don’t want to do.

The last one is important because we all have things we don’t want to do but have to anyway. Often, we have no choice in the matter.

It serves as a reminder to create buffer time around and allow a chance to relax.

We aren’t robots, and we don’t work at our best when we emulate them.

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Listen. Don’t Fight It.

Don't Fight It

You can’t destroy energy.

That is the first law of thermodynamics.

When you resist the urge, you are trying to destroy it. This will not bring your desired effect.

What happens instead of destroying the urge is you give it energy. Like I mentioned yesterday, you create a slingshot effect.

By pushing that energy down, you are creating a force for it to come up.

That’s why that part of the training montage doesn’t sit right with me. Stories matter. If it seems rational to fight the urge, then I will try.

Remember your last diet. You tried to destroy that urge to eat pizza and eventually you found yourself eating pizza, ice cream, and chocolate cake.

Disaster.

So what can we do instead?

Listen.

That’s it. Just listen to that urge. Don’t try to explain why it exists. Just listen.

 

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Don’t Do “Hit Lists”

“Hit lists” sap energy for no reason

After you didn’t get that promotion, funding, audition, spot, etc. it feels rewarding to put people on a hit list.

These aren’t people you kill. They are people you are going to “hit” with your “success.”

“They are going to remember me because I remember today, and when I “get” it (whatever it is) I’ll make sure they know.” *queue revenge music*

Stop. 

It isn’t worth remembering the people who “slighted” you for several reasons.

Here are a few:

  • Don’t contribute to malice what you could contribute to incompetence.
  • People (generally) aren’t out to get you.
  • You don’t know what they went through that day.

That moment’s importance is relative to you. That other person is just doing a job. You weren’t their cup of tea today. That’s fine.

There is a limit to time and energy.

It takes energy to  support, store and retrieve “memories” for the hit list.

You then have to spend time crossing people off the list, doing a “hit” when you get some success.

“I got the part, now I can’t wait to post it on Facebook. They are going to see it.”

That is draining and only causes more conflict. Every time you don’t get enough, you add to the hit list.

“Hit lists” never stop growing.

Would you rather keep up hit lists or get better? 

 

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Wasting Energy with a “Long No”

When you push things off, you create a “long no.”

What is a long no? Instead of being upfront and saying “no,” (short) you delay the inevitable by using half answers or “maybe,” (long).

Say you want to find a gym, and you have a buddy that wants to refer you to his favorite one. You know the gym is out of the way for you and doesn’t have a heavy bag (you want to work out some frustration!). Instead of saying no, “This gym doesn’t suit me,” you tell him “Let me get back to you” or “I’ll keep it in mind.”

And now you deal with that decision until he forgets or you can tell him you found it (or lie about it).

It’s wasted energy.

A short “no” short circuits al of that and allows either party to reframe into something that matters.

He might know something that fits your specifications if you ask.

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Conversation, Energy, and Patience

Wait it out.

There is an urge to jump on the first thing someone says that you don’t agree with.

Don’t.

It is a form of control.

You start a power struggle where someone either fights back or gets discouraged.

Either way, you transform the energy from the conversation because you’ve switched the terms. Instead of flow and understanding, it’s war. 

When it happens to you, there is an urge to go back on offense to get it back or defensively protect yourself.

Breathe.

Let the conversation sit there for a second. Just listen.

Your patience will guide will the conversation back to flow.

You might even learn something.

 

 

 

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