Energy: what is it and why is it important?
What is it?
Energy is your fuel and the multiplier behind everything else that you do. We have energy of the body (physical), mind (mental) and soul (spiritual).
Physical energy is your capacity to sustain effort and is influenced by how you move, sleep, rest and eat.
Mental energy is your ability to focus, think clearly and direct your attention toward what matters most.
Spiritual energy is the sense of meaning, purpose and connection that gives direction and depth to how you live and work.
Most people focus only on managing their time. Far fewer manage their energy as well. And there's a formula that we love here: Productivity = Focus x Energy x Time.
You may be able to block out that hour to work on your passion project or side hustle, but if you show up running on empty, you'll at best get a fraction of the output at lower quality, or simply push it off to tomorrow because you’re “just too tired today.”
Why do we need it?
Because some days you feel sharp, switched on, ready to go. Other days you arrive at your desk already running on fumes and you have no idea why. That's not random. It's the result of decisions and behaviors, conscious and un-conscious ones, which impact your energy - for better or for worse.
You have far more agency here than you think. And managing your energy well is the difference between actually making meaningful, consistent progress on the goals that matter most to you, and struggling to make any progress or burning out.
How do we get it?
We start with the body, because it's the foundation everything else sits on. We can increase our physical energy by sleeping, moving, eating and resting better.
Then, we have the mind. Mental, like physical energy, is limited and we can either waste that precious resource on non-important work or worrying about things outside of our control, or we can channel it into the work that matters most - that actually moves the needle.
Then, we have our spiritual energy. Often overlooked. You could have incredible physical and mental energy management and still feel drained, if you neglect your spiritual energy which is determined by the sense of meaning and purpose that you have in your life.
Manage all three of these well and, instead of a single low line running through your day, you raise your energy baseline, so your natural peaks and dips oscillate at a far higher level.
3 questions to ask yourself:
What energises me and how can I be more consistent in those activities and behaviours?
What drains my energy and how can I reduce, or eliminate those activities or behaviours?
What would give my life more meaning and purpose?
Take our quiz to get your personalised energy score to find out how you are managing your mental, physical and spiritual energy.
