Entrepreneurs should manage their energy differently… to avoid feeling drained from an unbalanced personal-professional life.
Everything is about energy. Why we should manage our energy differently ?
“If you don’t have time, you don’t have priorities...End of stories.” Tim Ferriss
I love that quote. I deeply believe that everything is about priority in life. Making priorities is being able to manage your energy. I used to read all the articles about time management. I used to believe focusing was only about time management. I used to organize my life using time slots.
Today, I believe that everything is about energy. I still love time containers. But feeling in flow today means knowing more how my energy works. That means feeling the peaks and valleys of sensations in any situations to be able to express it when a situation brings me energy and when it drains me. This is what I say for example when I peak in a nourishing conversation and just before going down : “OK, we just peaked in energy. Thank you for that conversation. I’m feeling full and desire to go back to focusing on my work now”.
Being able to feel your sensations is a way to learn how to express clear “YES” and clear “NO” in your daily life, but from body indicators not from your mind whispering to you “I need to” or «it’s time to».
This is a way to put energetic boundaries to avoid feeling drained.
I believe most entrepreneurs have lots of energy, are willing to change the world. The entrepreneurs really determined to succeed learn how to be disciplined and focus. But most of the time, they’re doing it from a time-management approach, not from an energy-management approach.
Let me explain that concept…
Energy management as a way of life for entrepreneurs
I love entrepreneurs mindset. I always felt entrepreneur myself and have deep desires to live around them . Most of entrepreneurs I met recently have issues to create space for their personal life.
I believe that the most successful entrepreneurs are those having the best personal-professionnal life balances.
My experience recently with men entrepreneurs was to face their fear to loose more energy being in a relationship than being single staying focus on their project no matter what. That might be right… at the beginning. And that’s also how entrepreneurs get drained after a while. I agree that women cost energy at the beginning because they test men, and women nourish men once they know how to handle them and once both agree on improving their relationships energy management:-)
Cultivating nourishing relationships is a high level practice. It takes commitment to work on managing your energy to be able to express what drains you and what energizes you in every part of your life including love relationships.
We are all energy addicts…
We all want more energy. I would even say that we’re all addict to energy. We’re ready to try new food approaches, new sports, new apps to practice workouts or sleep better. We are willing to experience mindfulness activities like yoga, meditation. The energy pills market is huge!
We often think that any state that feels comfy, familiar and easy, brings us energy. I believe that exploring new trails that take you somewhere you’ve never been before brings more energy.
On the other side, we often think that trying new activities, meet new people, buy new shoes, watch a new movie, or going to the last exposition brings us energy. I believe that daily practices as a routine brings more sustainable energy. And sustainable energy is the only way to fully experience focus and flow in your life.
Everything is about rythm in life
Everything is about rythm in life. What I love to explore the most in my life is the speed that fits best with my body and will nourish me. That means being aware when I disconnect, feeling ennoyed or tired because the rythm is too slow and feeling aware when I disconnect not being able to feel any sensation because the rythm is too fast.
And one of my challenge as an entrepreneur is being in the moment, fully in my sensations while being visionary feeling energised thinking about futur scenarios.
I invite you to that exercice playing with finding the right speed in your life being in your sensations : This week, “PLAY with SPEED. When you’re moving so fast, you can’t feel anything, SLOW DOWN. When you’re moving so slow you’re bored, SPEED UP”
Now, i want to introduce how to work on energy management and why entrepreneurs should work on it to cultivate sustainable energy.
Dissipating the energy
Imagine your life energy as a tank. Now, imagine a life without having an empty tank any more but dayly practices to always fill the tank.
First, let me talk about how we tend to dissipate the energy. A common way to dissipate energy in relationships is rather than using relationship to create a game between two equals, we find ourselves trading our own energy back and forth, until it’s gone and both tanks are empty once again.
Another common pitfall of dissipation is to spend a little bit of energy in a lot of different places. While at first such expansion can feel really good, soon a sense of overwhelm sets in. All the seeds you’ve planted start bearing fruit at the same time, each needing your attention. Obligation and victimization often occurs at that point.
The antidote for dissipation is simplicity. We clear the unnecessary energetic investments and pause to get back to basics. We use the energy we are building to learn how to manage our own most basic needs. We focus on staying plugged into our own power source, increasing our capacity to hold energy so we know we will always have reserves in our tanks.
And once we know how to stay plugged in, we can reinvest it smartly. Rather than dissipating our energy on new toys that will soon lose their allure, we invest it where it will generate a sustainable energetic income. That way, when the time comes for a major life phase transition, we’ll not end up feeling drained. The energy will still be there.
Sounds easy but that’s a real way of life…
“Energy Accounting”~What if the energy was our next currency?
Paying attention to how we are spending our energy could be called “Energy Accounting.” Energy accounting is simply keeping track of where you are investing energy and where you are consuming or dissipating it. Just like financial accounting.
How do you plug in and get energy, and are you making those activities a priority? How do you spend your energy on others?
I’m working on “energy accounting” with every person I’m coaching. And I work on my own “energy accounting” daily.
The first step in developing more sustainable energetic practices is to account for what you are doing with your energy right now. And that’s what most entrepreneurs need to deal with in order to become successful.
Building vs. Spending energy : what does it mean ?
This is a comparison approach I got from my coaching program. It helps me to manage my energy daily.
Building vs spending :
Confront vs Avoid
Take responsibility vs Blame
Do It Now vs Postpone
Do it to 80% vs Perfectionism
Stick with it vs Vacillate
Feel raw vs Throw the hot potato
Express desire vs Withdraw and retreat
Be honest vs Fog, hide or create intrigue
Apologize, make amends vs Beat yourself (or someone else) up
Get with the present vs Long for the past or lean into the future
Teach someone to do it for themselves vs Do it for them
Go outside your comfort zone vs Rigidly stick with your preferences
How does that sound to you ?
Exercise : Daily Energy Log
I love this exercice and I invite you to use it as a way to identify which of your daily activities cultivate energy and which consume it. Don’t worry if you’re not sure which box to check, follow your intuition. Over time you will become more familiar with the sensations of generating and spending. Soon you may discover yourself gravitating automatically toward the activities that generate rather than diminish your energetic currency.
Log the activities you take part in over of the day. Try to be specific : rather than saying “work,” note the actual tasks and duties you are working on and how they make you feel.
Do you feel more energized or less energized when you are finished?
Place an “x” in the “Generating box” if you sense that the activity cultivated energy. Place an “x” in the “Spending box” if you believe it depleted your reserves. Then note why you marked the box you did. Repeat this exercise daily for one week, or longer if you find it helpful.
Daily Energy Log column names :
Time/Activity/Generating-Spending (mark “x” here)/Notes
Some inspiration below. And if you need any support on creating your energy accounting, reach me at aurelie@flowher.net
Areas of Spending:
- Money : ignoring debts, obsessing over finances
- Food : eating over feelings, restricting, sugar, caffeine
- Relationship : processing, obsessing, colluding, avoiding, fantasizing
- Intimacy/Sex : strict preferences, not speaking desires, going over
- Leisure : facebook/youtube surfing, over/under-sleeping
- Emotions : fear, resentment, self doubt, pride, skepticism
- General habits : lagging, overcommitment, under-extension
Areas of Generating:
- Money : generosity, handling debts, asking for what you need
- Food : eating attuned to the body, cutting sugar, caffeine etc
- Relationship : honesty, taking responsibility, letting desire lead
- Intimacy/Sex : Orgasmic Meditation, “slow sex”, expanding range of preference
- Leisure : yoga, meditation, deliberate use of come down activities
- Emotions : fear inventory, energy management, trust
- General habits : Do It Now, full extension
Wanna go deeper on your work-life balance : FlowHer.net
