And no, these are not silver bullets, but practices which we can turn into habits.
Energy is the currency by which we live our life. If we don’t have energy, we would get nothing done.
What are 3 ways that we can have more energy to do important things in life, that we don’t do enough?
Get the right amount of exercise
Because we may be doing exercise, but it might not be enough.
Or, as in my case, I have plateaued, and am not getting additional benefit.
Which might mean I need to change something about what or how I’m doing my exercise, to build more energy.
When you exercise, you’re getting tired, and exerting effort in the very short term, to build strength, endurance, and more energy in your life. It’s a way of taking care of yourself, and at the same time, developing capacity to take care of others as well.
I wrote about this before, but what exercising does, is teach us how to get through suffering, and to build the resources to handle such in the future.
To get the right amount of exercise, in the right consistency, is to keep on building your energy and capacity to do important things in your life, make important decisions, and keep what’s important to you.
Especially in times of stress and suffering. Our bodies, and what happens to it, also affects our minds, and how we think and feel.
Exercise creates energy.
Manage our priorities/activities
Which is another way of saying, that we should manage our energy, and where we spend it during the day.
Part of this is also the awareness that we need to recharge, and to make time to do so, meaningfully.
Not just for the sake of resting, or just “blanking out”, but true, and real, recharge and recreation.
I used to binge watch shows and movies on my laptop at home, during the weekends. I thought that was resting, and that I was recharging myself for the days ahead.
Then, I discovered that I was actually less productive the days following my binge episodes. I had less patience, and had difficulty thinking calmly and clearly.
Binge watching took away my energy, and drained me instead.
What else drains me the same way?
When I say yes to things that I should’ve said no.
How then, do you have energy to do the important things in your life?
Either get them done first, or make sure to reserve energy to get them done.
Manage your energy, when you spend it, and how you can maintain it.
Be deliberate and aware of your energy, and how you feel.
Get quality sleep
Not just the right amount of sleep, but the quality of your sleep – counts as well.
I’ve had bouts where I go to sleep, get a good number of hours in, and still wake up tired and listless.
And from what I’ve been noticing, there is one major offender to this – screens.
TV screens, laptop screens, phone screens, whatever have you, affects our eyes, our bodies, and affects the sleep that we have.
Especially with usage up to the point where we sleep.
It’s momentum. We want our body to sleep and stop, but the screen exposure right before sleeping keeps our minds awake, and alert, and therefore, takes more time to wind down.
Which then cuts into the deep, restful state time that our minds and bodies should be having.
Something that works for me, is to cut off screen exposure at least an hour before bedtime – to give my eyes, head, and body time to adjust to getting rest.
When I am able to do this, the quality of my sleep skyrockets.
It’s not about quantity, but about quality.
You can’t just go full speed, and then full stop to go to sleep. You have to wind down as well, and start to slow down, to also prepare yourself to sleep.
Get quality sleep, and your waking hours will be so much different.
Get and have more energy
It’s all about awareness and management, along with a healthy dose of self-experimentation.
But these 3 habits, I have found, work not only for me, but for the people that I’ve coached and in some form or another, people who have found success and effectiveness in their lives.
Manage your energy.
Be aware.
What are some things you do to have more energy in your life? Let us know in the comments below!
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