12 Ways to Replenish Your Energy

Source: Dollar Photo Club

There are lots of ways to drain your energy other than physical activity. Even if you were active but you are not happy at the end of the day, you could be using your energy inefficiently. If you would like more energy to spend with family and friends, consider cutting down on the following five activities and then consider adding in a few from the list at the end of this post.

5 Energy Drains

1. Focus on what you can’t control.
When you focus on what you can’t control, like the communication styles of others, leadership decisions, or the weather, you fall into the victim trap. The greater your feelings of helplessness, the more energy you lose. You bang your head against the wall instead of seeing the doorways that lead elsewhere.

2. Hold on too tightly to what you thought would happen.
Clinging to your expectations blocks out possibilities. We all have pictures of what we thought our careers and lives would look like at a certain point. We expect our bosses to treat us a certain way, our colleagues to be respectful, and our relationships to just get better. Then reality shows up but we don’t change our expectations, setting us up for frustration and disappointment. What unmet expectations do you complain about? It might be time to state the truth so you can move on.

3. Don’t ask for help.
Our society honors self-starters and independent workers. It is natural then to feel you have to know and do everything for yourself to demonstrate your worth. It is not likely that people will think of you as weak if you reach out for assistance even once a week. And if you never ask for help, it’s possible people will think you are arrogant or aloof, or don’t respect what they have to offer, straining your relationships.

4. Listen to your brain.
Your brain’s primary purpose is to protect you, so it is often on the lookout for the worst possible scenarios for upcoming encounters. If you listen too often to your paranoid brain, you won’t take risks even if there is a good probability of a positive outcome. What else could happen if you speak up, reach out, and try something new? You may not know until you try it a few times.

5. Take yourself seriously.
Taking your work seriously is admirable. Taking yourself too seriously is a drain. You are not the lamplight of the world. You will be of service to others and the organization but probably not the savior they will always remember. Besides, if you’re going to laugh at all of this someday anyway, why not start now?

12 Energy Gains

Did you know you can think yourself into having more energy? Thoughts that activate positive emotions can energize your mind, secreting the chemicals that increase your overall sense of well-being. Boost your mood with these activities:

1. Instead of complaining, focus on what is in your power to control, starting with your own thoughts and feelings.
2. Find things to laugh at, including yourself.
3. Stop and appreciate what you have right now, including what you have gained from lessons learned.
4. Listen to some upbeat or calming music, or sing to yourself.
5. Get up and go for a walk, even if you have to stay indoors. If no one is looking (or even if they are), do a little dance or just jump up and down moving your body in different ways. Movement is good to get the juices flowing.
6. Create a vision of what you would like your life to look like 1 year from now and take one step to move toward your vision.
7. Ask for help to achieve one of your goals.
8. Determine your “why” – why you get up in the morning and what you are working to accomplish even if the dream is far away. What activities or plans give you a sense of purpose? The more you can articulate what you do that is significant, the smaller your troubles will seem.
9. Forgive yourself for making mistakes.
10. Try to feel compassion for the people who annoy you; they are doing their best with what they know right now.
11. Ask your heart what to do when you need to make a tough decision. Then call on your gut for the courage to move forward.
12. Call someone you love and tell them how you feel or that you miss them.

Instead of draining your energy, go for the natural high. You will feel so much better as you lay your head down at the end of the day.