The Missing Resource
Aicila: [00:00:00] Welcome to Business as Unusual. Today I'm gonna talk about energy and how it is the missing resource in your business. Most entrepreneurs plan around time and money, but ignore the resource that fuel fuels both energy sometimes because they think of it as woo or magical.?
so why care about energy? Well, like I said, it is the resource that fuels effective use of your time and money. Also, it fuels you in your life and in your business. And it's what you draw on to do those creative problem solving activities or the things that feel like they just come to you naturally.
When folks first start out in their business, they have a lot of enthusiasm and their investment in their energy was often more organic or intuitive. As you develop your business, you need to make that investment more intentional. For example, I work with a woman who's a very capable photographer.
She does headshot. She used to do large events. And she said that one of the things, she's been a photographer her whole life, and she said one of [00:01:00] the things that she saw is she would get depleted. And just not wanna go in the studio, not take pictures, even though she loves it. And she realized that it was because she was only doing pictures for work.
She wasn't fueling her creativity around photography. So she'd grab the camera and go out to nature or in the world and take pictures of things that inspired her. And then that just brought her right back to that original excitement and access to her unique talent and tactics that had become, it's a little bit more difficult to access when she felt depleted.
there are three types of energy. Momentum is that drive to begin, keep going, and it's the satisfaction that you feel when you finish. What you start. A connection energy is through relational fuel that builds trust, collaboration, and a sense of belonging in your work. And creative energy is the spark that generates ideas, solutions, and innovative ways to bring your vision to life.
Your creative energy is what you use in a variety of ways with your creative [00:02:00] problem solving sometimes to create that perfect spreadsheet as well as your design and your solutions for your clients. Connection is those relationships, collaborations, networking, client, vendor relationships that are key to being in business because we are in business with other people and they need to be cultivated as well as drawn upon. And then momentum is your motivation to get something done and your satisfaction upon completion that that puts together.
And one of the reasons that energy is overlooked as a driver of productivity and revenue is we are not used to thinking of ourselves holistically. A lot of us live in very compartmentalized worlds. There's this idea that work and life are separate. And while there are obviously professional boundaries and ways that we engage in, uh, professional relationships that are different than the way that we would engage in a personal relationship. We are still our whole self. If I'm going through something. If I've lost a loved [00:03:00] one as a person, that person goes to work and has also experienced that loss. And similarly, if I have creative burnout as a person, I, as a worker will also have that.
Learning how to replenish that energy so that you can draw upon it when you need it, as opposed to, what I see a lot of times is people think of those things as being a little magical, or they think of it as something that's bestowed. Oh, that person, they're just driven.
They have all sorts of momentum. No, actually they either intuitively or intentionally have learned how to cultivate that motivation and satisfaction to their good. Now, like I said, sometimes it's intuitive. People will just think, oh, it just happens, but it doesn't. You've made choices in your life that create that for you.
Similar to y your health, right? Like your health, some you're born with certain inclinations and talents. However, if you take good care of yourself, [00:04:00] you do the basics of getting good sleep and drinking water and eating a balanced diet, you have a higher likelihood of feeling good on a regular basis. And the same is true if you don't. Especially in Colorado, if you don't hydrate in Colorado, you're just gonna be tired all the time. So when I, when you talk about energy. That creative connection momentum, it's very easy for people to think, oh, that's just something that happens. And it is actually cultivated by people whether they're aware of it or not.
let's talk about energy leaks. Now energy leaks are places where you are losing energy and not cultivating it, and that's one of the big things that I like people to really notice is that you think of energy once again as being kind of magical.
It just shows up. Actually you need to cultivate it, not just conserve it. And I'm gonna get a little more into that, but some of the signs- think about it like you feel burnt out. You are doing everything right, but just don't feel like things are moving. You feel that sense of overwhelm, that's a big [00:05:00] one. You might feel disconnected or unmotivated to engage with people. Maybe you feel really uninspired, everything's just kind of boring. Or, um you can't really figure out what to do next, get moving or make decisions, right? And so those are all signs that you have an energy leak somewhere. And the the next step is to understand which kind that it is.
And then the next step is to learn how to cultivate your energy. So a lot of times, much like with savings, right? Like people will think, oh, I need more money, so I'll save. And saving is great. However, especially in your business, if you can find ways to bring in more income. Then you're gonna have a lot more possibilities and opportunity.
It's similar with your energy once you understand what your core energy is. And we all use all of them, but there's one that you probably have a go to. Mine's momentum. All of my challenges happen when I don't feel like I can make a decision. I work with someone and their primary energy is connection.
They need to have healthy levels of [00:06:00] engagement and collaboration in their work in order to keep going and to have the energy to go through the things that they aren't as motivated by or as, as as charged- to go through the things they aren't as charged by. So if, if you focus on conserving your energy, it limits you to what you already have.
And if you learn how to co cultivate that energy, then you'll have a consistent flow and it will expand. It kind of spirals up in the same way there could be a downward spiral, there can also be an upward spiral.
So what we wanna do is move from being an exhausted hustler to energized, intentional entrepreneur. And that happens when your energy, time, and money are working together. You already know how to manage time and invest money. Once you've learned how to cultivate your energy, you're gonna find that the gears of your operation and your thinking and your creativity are moving so smoothly and so successfully that things feel easy.
And that I will give you a caveat [00:07:00] for a lot of us that can feel like we're doing something wrong or we're getting away with something. We're so used to working so hard and feeling like things have to be a grind, that when we start to have it go smoothly and well, we freak out. What are we missing?
What do we do wrong? Why is it easy? Could it always have been this easy? Yes. And. That you're doing it now, so that's great. Remember, success comes when your energy, time, and money work together.
as we head into fall, and a lot of us are thinking about reviewing this year and planning for next year, I suggest you think about what gave you the most energy this year? And what drained you the most? Sit down, spend a little time on your next walk or write about it and.
Use that information as you're starting to plan your activities for 2026. If you wanna know what your core energy is, head over to bi curian.com, B-I-C-U-R-E-A n.com/energy snapshot. And take my short five question quiz that will give you, uh, [00:08:00] start in understanding that about yourself. And, uh, tune in next week when I talk to Meg Crosby, co-founder of People Cap Advisors.
She shares her expertise in helping high growth companies navigate the complex challenges of scaling by aligning organizational structure with strategy and context. And she has some practical frameworks around all of this in her upcoming book, running The Gauntlet. And so, see you then.
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.
