Today, we talk about Energy! Many of you asked me to do a Podcast Episode on this subject and I am excited for this to be live on Spotify and iTunes.
How much would you rate your energy right now? If we were live, I would ask someone. Let’s say you gave yourself a 5.
Would you date a 5? Would you do business with someone who has a 5 in Energy?
You would not right? Therefore, learn to take care of your energy!
Energy is key in everything we do. Let me give you an example: what makes a great relationship? We saw last week that our Energy makes a difference. If the partners are in a great emotional state, their relationship will be magnificent!
If they are in a really low energy state, what happens? They have no energy, the relationship might fall apart. They will say things they do not even mean.
The “tension” we sometimes experience in relationships is simply when one person is in great emotional state and the other one is in a bad emotional state.
Energy is a habit! Even if the environment changes, our energy should not change. Tony Robbins, American author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist, said that one of the biggest promises he made to himself was to live in a beautiful state, regardless of the external circumstances.
Many co-workers used to ask me “Matteo you seem so energised”, “Don’t you have bad days?”… Of course I have bad days! But I try to train myself to become emotionally fit so that I do not stay in an emotionally terrible situation for a long time! If I feel like a 6 I try to raise my bar to a 8.
Is it possible that over the last 12 months you had a dip in your energy? It’s because we did not require much energy from our body. Yes, you heard it right, we need to practice energy every single day. You need to condition energy in your body. Our brain is a muscle and we can light it up any time we want.
Before understanding 3 tips to have more energy, we must understand the concept of "Emotional Home".
First of all, there are so many things we cannot control. There is nothing we can possibly do to control a tsunami that destroys our home. However, there is a lot we can control and we have to learn to master what we can control!
There is the external world that we can influence, but cannot control completely. And there is our internal world! Mastering this is key for a happy life.
Mastering our internal world means being aware of our emotional home. So, what is this emotional home?
We all have an emotional home, a place we go back to. Let me give you an example of a physical home: if you watch the news, I am sure we all heard about people who live in areas who often get hit by a typhoon. You probably asked yourself: "Why don’t they move?!" The reason why they don’t move is because that is their home.
The same happens with your emotional home. For instance, if deep down you are sad because you think life happens to you instead of happening for you, every time something good comes your way you either don’t see it at all, or you look at it with skepticism. And when something bad happens, it reinforces your belief that life is sad.
And this is why we need external perspectives in our life. It is easy to tell people in Asia that they should move houses, but when we had the earthquake in Italy we kept living there. It is easy to tell someone they should get out of a toxic relationship, but it’s difficult to understand if you are in one. Let’s see how we can expand our emotional home.
You cannot separate body and mind. You need to be able to train your body and your mind. You can have $1B dollars and be miserable!
It all goes back to the emotional home. If you have a beautiful family but you constantly stress, you will never see a happy life.
Learn to master your emotions. The quality of your life is given by the quality of your emotions. If you have certain negative emotions, it does not matter what you achieve, you will always be miserable.
If you master your internal world, you will be happy.
We are unfortunately the product of a “broken” world. Rather than using technology, the latter is using us! We need to become emotionally fit if we want to take back control.
My friend Anil says we must always train our mind muscle and there is nothing truer than that. The most powerful invisible force is human emotion. How we use our mind and our heart! Fitness is a state-readiness to face whatever is coming.
Emotional intelligence is key. It is more important than intellectual intelligence. You can be smart but still miserable.
Intelligent thinking is the key. We should see things as they are, but not worse than they are!
If we need more energy, where do we get it from?
Many people say FOOD and SLEEP.
Well, food is a source of energy, but it is not THE source of energy. Would you have the energy to go for a run after Christmas dinner? You are so stuffed, you feel terrible. Food, as strange as it sounds, is not the main energy source.
And sleep? Neither! What happens if you sleep 12 hours? You will probably feel super tired.
Energy is a habit and this habit starts with: Movement, Breath, and Voice.
3 tips to have more Energy:
Radical shift in your Physiology
Move your shoulders back, breathe, smile, jump, etc.!
You might be familiar with the Harvard Business School study on Power Postures by Amy Cuddy, where they researched that if you adopt a power posture and breath intensely and fully for 2 minutes your testosterone levels increases by 20%, your cortisol (the stress hormone) levels decrease by 25% and your risk tolerance decreases by 33% and you are much more likely to take action. Exercising plays a crucial role. According to Brian Bradley, founder of the Egoscue Method and physiotherapist of Tony Robbins, “You can exercise and think you are awesome, or seriously exercise in the right way and become awesome!”. Most of us go to the gym to feel good with ourselves. We do a few squats, a couple of burpees, take a picture to let the World we are at the gym, and we go home. But deep down, and I have been there and I can tell you from personal experience, deep down we know we are full of shit. Deep down we know we did not really train with intensity!
Overall, Energy is Life. If energy is low, everything is difficult, everything is a burden.
If you want to be a Leader, learn that Leaders spend 90% of the time on the solution, not the problem! What is the solution when you have low energy?
If you want to change your pattern of emotions, you have to change what you do with your body.
Moving your body has an impact on your emotions (emotion is energy in motion). Your emotions change your actions. Your actions change the world.
Quick important reminder: Hope does not change the World. Hoping that suffer ends is not a mindset. Hoping that things get better is stupid. What we need is massive action! Momentum is needed, like a rocket sent in space. Like a team that starts winning. And momentum is created by taking action!
Learn to hack your Biochemistry.
Biochemistry is the branch of science that explores the chemical processes within and related to living organisms. As sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, it may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and metabolism. When you understand Biochemistry, you understand how to have energy at all times.
2. Learn to wake up your nervous system.
The way you sound affects your nervous system. This is why when I train people on Energy day we scream! This is also why, when we meditate, we chant 'Om' (technically spelled 'aum'), the mantra and sacred sound that is traditionally repeated at the beginning and end of a yoga practice. Sound is vibration in motion. It is energy, and releasing energy, as strange as it sounds, creates more energy.
3. Learn healthy competition.
We typically look at competition in a negative light, as if we had to win by establishing superiority over others.
We do not have to establish superiority over others, we have to establish superiority over our past self.
This is why I highly encourage you to consider coopetition, cooperation + competition.
The best performers are not afraid of helping others because they know, deep down, that a stronger and more energetic opponent will also push them to become a higher-performing version of themselves!
By the way, etymologically, the word “competition” derives from the Latin verb competere. Peto means “to reach towards” and therefore an interesting meaning of competition is “going together” or “aspire together to the victory” as if the opponents made an agreement to conspire together and make each other better. Push me as hard as you can, I will do the same!
What makes a great Leader? Many Leaders use too much of their rational side. Pino Bethencourt, Spanish Executive Coach, explains this in her book “Embrace the Wild”. Your rational side will serve you well, but you must know when to lead with your emotional state because that is more effective and emotions are contagious.
Let me give you an example: let’s say that you are the CEO and your Board asks you what you think we should do. You can be hesitant and say “I don’t know I need time to think about it”, or you can firmly say “I will handle it!”. Which one is more powerful? The second Leader stops thinking about a full plan and starts leading with the heart to inspire more confidence. (of course we assume he/she will have some ideas on what to do next).
Therefore, if you are a Leader, learn when to lead with your heart!
Make your life a masterpiece, I appreciate you and I hope you have an amazing day.