Negotiating Life’s Detours: Follow Your Energy
Someone recently asked me if I had a guiding principle to help me decide what new job to take on and how I decide how much time to devote to my various interests. It’s a great question. Entrepreneurs come up with an idea in a minute, and it’s often hard to know which ideas to spend time on. A mentor of mine gave me this principle a few years ago, and I try to live by it.
Go where your energy is strong.
Does the path you’re on give you energy just thinking about it? Then follow it. If not, consider a new address.
It may be easier said than done, but you can start with small steps. Do you love to sing (write, play tennis, carve wood) but find you don’t have time for it? Find a teacher and start the lessons, or block off an hour twice a week to practice or participate in the activity. Is your work life not satisfying at the moment? What change can you make that could release your energy? Maybe you need to have a conversation with your boss or staff, review priorities, or ask for a change that makes you want to step into the place where you spend a third of your life, instead of dreading it.
Even the right path has detours from time to time. Submit each new address to your power test. Is strong? Do you wake up in the morning wanting to start? When you are doing this activity, do you forget where you are and what time it is? This is what it means to go where your energy is strong. This principle makes decisions much easier and keeps you on the right path for you.
Where is your strong energy? Take a moment now to consider the ways you spend your energy each day.
- How much of it is on target and how much is not?
- How do you know when you’re headed in the right direction?
- Do you have a vision that guides you?
Sit down for a few minutes each morning, close your eyes, and visualize what you want in your life. It is time well spent. Good ki!