Your Energy Equation

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The energy equation stoking your internal fire. Most of the time, people, entrepreneurs and people in general focus on time and money, but they're missing the third resource. Energy. Energy isn't just about stamina. It's made up of three key elements, creativity, momentum, and connection. Learn how to manage and cultivate these, and you'll have the energy to use your time and money effectively.

Now, when I talk about this in a business sense, really thinking about you manage your time as an entrepreneur, business owner, you invest your money- in yourself, in your team, in improvements in education. You need to also cultivate your energy. And that's the part I think a lot of people miss, and where burnout comes in.

Burnout is predictable and therefore preventable. When your business battery is fueled by those three elements of creativity, connection, and momentum, and you learn how to cultivate and replenish those, you're not gonna burn out. I help [00:01:00] people become their own regenerative source so they can move through and avoid that burnout. And to understand how to create that inner power source. Which is also a power source for your life and your wellbeing.

So it's kind of efficient, which I do love that. So. Let me expl, I'll explain which each of them are. So when I talk about creative energy, it's that that capacity to generate, express, and solve ideas, designs, imagination. Like some people who are maybe more engineering or math focused will say, well, I don't use creativity.

Yes you do. Creativity is part of, um, problem solving. And it's part of math and understanding how to put things together. Even if you're like, oh no, I don't use creativity in my business or my life. Yes you do. Connection energy is all of those team building things, uh, networking and honestly relationships.

That's that I. Charge you get or give through meaningful interaction and engagement. And momentum. Energy is that internal moti [00:02:00] motivation to begin and the emotional satisfaction of seeing something through. So that's why I talk about those three core energy components. The other thing I really want you to remember is that energy is a resource.

It's not just a feeling. I, people often feel, you know, there's a lot of woo and, and I admit this probably sounds a little woo and there's definitely a piece to it because it's a little difficult to measure. However. I shouldn't say that. It's not difficult to measure, you know, when you have energy and, and momentum. But it's not always easy to quantify. And it is a business asset that must be managed, like time and money.

If you're a designer and you draw on your creative energy and you don't replenish it. Then what happens is people think it's magic. They come back to do some design and they can't do it. I'm stuck. I'm burned out. Really what it is, is they haven't understood how to replenish their creative energy. So they draw on it till it's gone. And then they don't have it [00:03:00] anymore.

Managing your energy also multiplies the impact of your time and money. You can have all the time and money in the world, but if you don't have the energy to use them well or to make those important strategic decisions, they're gonna be wasted. And let's be honest, most of us don't have all the time and money in the world.

 We really need to be very thoughtful and strategic about how we engage with our other resources. And having our energy source, our energy core fueled up, helps with that. And once again, burnout isn't just a personal issue, it's a business problem. Without managing your creative, connection and momentum, energy, your business as well as your being are going to suffer.

The best leaders and entrepreneurs will actively manage these three sources of their energy and not just their schedule and their finances.

We all know somebody who seems to have an unending source of energy. They, they're go, go, go. They always seem to be able to create and, and inspire [00:04:00] or get things done. And sometimes that's because they have good delegation and they, they have other like support factors and privileges. And a lot of times it's because they intuitively understand this aspect. If you, if you sit and talk to them, they usually know what recharges them. And they often prioritize that. They don't tend to skip meals or short themselves on sleep. And they do tend to spend time doing things they love and unapologetically. They will schedule vacations or time with their family and friends.

They're always replenishing that internal battery. And they don't probably think about it that way. It's like I said, for a lot of folks that are intuitively connected to that, it's, it's an automatic behavior. Or maybe they learned it from someone. A lot of us have to learn it differently. Uh, we, we, we, we work in we cultures and communities that encourage self [00:05:00] exploitation.

We are rewarded for harming ourselves, for staying up too late, for giving up things that matter to us, uh, to chase the dollar. And profit isn't a problem. Having a a profitable business is 100% one of the goals. And extracting that profit from yourself and others will deplete everything.

And learning how to be that CEO of your own wellbeing and to really replenish those energy centers will make a difference for you in your success and also your satisfaction. One of the things I hear from my clients is almost like a shock and, um, discomfort that it doesn't have to be so hard.

I am not talking about the, the good, kind of hard that. That thing where you throw yourself into a project and you're not sure you're, you're, you're, you're on your edge of learning. And you've got that feeling of like risk [00:06:00] and challenge or expanding your comfort zone. You're pushing yourself a little bit, like a good workout will do.

Like when you're done with a good workout, your body feels. Just a little bit sort of tired, but you don't feel drained, right? It's not that kind of like, Ugh, what did I do? And this is so hard. It's, it's that, that hard that creates. And the other hard, the hard that's draining and, and, and self exploiting. That feels different.

And you know what it is. I know you know what it is because we've all been there. And we've, a lot of us believe. Either through conditioning or experience or just being in this culture that, that hard, that feels bad, means that we're, we're doing it, that we're doing the work. And actually as often the one that takes us away from being the most effective, most [00:07:00] productive, most beneficial, uh, entrepreneur and, and community member.

 I'm gonna talk about this. I, I, I talked around it because I didn't really have good languaging for it for a long time. And I, I recently sort of was able to dial it in. And I'm gonna talk about this more often on the podcast and in my work. Because I, I realize it is something I bring to everything that I do. And it isn't intuitive for people. And it is messaged against.

And every time that this has clicked for someone. I just see everything in their business and honestly, a lot of things in their life, going way more smoothly. And the way that they want it to. Because it's a very strategic way to understand how to fuel yourself and your life in the same way that eating well or exercising appropriately will fuel your body, this fuels the energy of your life. So I hope you stick around for more on the energy equation.

Stay tuned next week when we talk to Shez Mahara, who [00:08:00] will be talking to us about audio design and the impact that that can have on your brand.

Thank you for tuning into business as unusual, remember, in this ever evolving world of modern business, it's not about fitting in.

It's about standing out. See you next time. Stay curious, stay innovative, and always keep it unusual.