Patching the Hole in the Energy Bucket

I was pretty far into my career when I learned how important it is to manage my energy. I had just bought my company, which had been my dream for years. I was not going to let it fail, no matter how many hours I had to work.

I’d get up every morning energized, ready to take on the goals I’d set for the business and head straight into the office. I’d get there and settle into work, but people would show up at my door who wanted something from me, and I needed to respond, to head out to the floor and address issues.

Bit by bit, the day would start to drain away. Before I knew it, it was already 7pm.

Now I need to go and deal with things at home. My wife at the time needed me for things at the house or she was upset that I had already stayed too late.

The kids wanted to play catch, and all I wanted to do was to sit and have a whiskey and relax. I didn’t have the energy to do it all.

Energy requires more than just rest.

Most people need 7 to 8 hours a night of sleep, but you can get that and still become drained if you allow people to suck the energy out of you.

There’s a video loop I use in my presentations that shows a bucket that’s been dunked into a pool. When it’s pulled out, a big gash in the side of the bucket is letting the water escape quickly.

That’s how I felt. I’d wake up. I’d be energized but my energy would start to drain away as soon as I got to work.

I put all my focus into the business.

The way I looked at it was that at some point, I’d have plenty of time for my family, my kids, and all the rest, but first I needed to get the business to where we wanted it.

But the reality is that business is always there. There’s always room for improvement. It’s never going to be exactly the way I want it. There’s always more we can do, and then you’re just in the rat race.

I had to find a different way.

“Flip it upside down”

I was lucky to be introduced to The Powerful Man group where I learned the concept of flipping it upside down. Instead of grabbing my phone, grabbing a shower, and running into the office first thing, I flipped the script and started to focus on myself in the morning. I took time for a fitness routine before going to work. I had to be intentional about increasing my energy.

The script most of us feel like we need to follow is work first and then ourselves, but the problem is that in business the work is never really done, and you fall into the trap of never finding enough time to feed your soul.

I still spend a decent portion of my day on my business but spending two and a half hours every morning working on myself, and putting time on my calendar for the things that energize me: meditation, journaling, time with family, being in nature, allows me to fill my cup.

Recovery is essential to increasing energy.

Muscle growth needs tension and recovery periods. Same as energy. Intentionally pushing oneself in physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual areas are imperative, but it is also just as important to allow for recovery. I go to bed at 10:00 pm and get up at 5:00. When 6:00 pm comes I don’t feel like I’m out of energy. For whatever reason, flipping that old script upside down gets my energy overflowing. I don’t feel like anyone’s ever stealing my energy. I’m grounded. And it’s the work that I’m doing on myself that allows my energy to overflow into others.