The Three Major Energy Thieves

Have you ever seen a dog with its teeth set around a bone, shaking its head from side to side? Grrrrrrr! How much energy do you think it takes the dog to keep going with that action? I’m thinking a lot of energy. Now imagined you replaced the dog and every time you felt worried, resentment or comparisonitus you grit your teeth around that bone and grrrrrrr. How much of your day might you be spending going grrrrrrr?

Worry, resentment and comparisonitus are three major energy thieves in our lives.

The worrying part about worry is that most of us would rather worry than take action on something. Indecision leads to worry. We say, “I just need to think about it for a while.” None of that is thinking, it is worrying dressed up as thinking. “Let me think about that some more.” Being intentional in our lives requires action and decisions because it is the velocity with which we make decisions which drives momentum.

Maybe you are even a little bit addicted to the anxiety of worry. The petrol light has gone into the final red zone but instead of coming off the motorway at this service station, “I’ll wait until the one in another 13 miles.” The petrol isn’t cheaper in 13 miles, there is no rational reason to not fill up the tank of petrol, instead you continue to drive but worry you won’t make it to the next services the whole time. Do you perhaps know the type of worry I’m talking about? Procrastination until the deadline is so close you can smell the fear surrounding it.

Give yourself a good ten minutes to list out all the things you are currently worrying about: big, medium and small worries. Once you have them named on a sheet of paper, go through each in turn and ask yourself, “what can I do today in my life as it is right now about this worry?”

  1. Make a decision
  2. Decide on the process
  3. Either do it immediately or schedule a time to action it

If it feels too big, break it down into a small daily action that you can take and notice the wave of peace that passes over you like a blanket of calm. Maybe feeling peaceful can be your new addiction?

In the next Coffee & Notes I’ll dig into resentment and comparisonitus in more detail.

Until then, hit reply and let me know one of the worries on your list and what action you have committed to take to put the bone down and shift velocity.

Keep Opening Up,

Hannah

PS 📅 The Planning 2023 Workshop
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PPS In the latest episode of the Women in STEM Career & Confidence podcast I interview Emily Tsitrian author of ‘make me the boss: surviving as a millennial manager in the corporate world.’ Listen in on your favourite platform 🎧 iTunes 🎧 Spotify 🎧 Other Platforms