Follow Your Energy

Follow Your Energy...

We all have lots of demands in our lives - long "to do" lists and ongoing competition for our time, energy and attention. How do you prioritize and decide which gets your attention?

Of course, there are some things you have to tend to....a crying child, an emergency at work, or water shooting out of your kitchen faucet (don't laugh, that's not a stretch at my house!). But what about the non-emergency demands? Let's say you have three or four tasks that need to be done and you can't decide where to start.

"What should you do first?" As you know, the word "should" is a four letter word in my life (actually it's 6 letters, but you get my point)....it's full of judgment and using it gives your power and control to something or someone outside yourself.

Focusing on a should is a disempowering way to operate.

Replace that question with, "Where do you want to start?" Of all the things on your list, which draws you in more and where your energy lead you?

For me, today was a great example. I had lots on my "to do" list but the two biggies were writing my newsletter and cleaning up the yard before the new growth takes over. Asking the standard "should" question, lead me to think writing may be the top priority because I have a deadline and a belief that business work should take priority (there's that word again). The problem was I wasn't feeling very creative, I didn't know what I wanted to write about and was really kind of dreading it.

Do I suck it up and just work on it anyway?

Then I asked the question I often ask my clients. What do I really want to do? Where's my energy? The answer? Get outside!! It's beautiful, I was motivated and needing to move my body.

If my newsletter is late....so be it!

And you know what happened? I got 90 minutes of productive work done outside and as I was working, my newsletter topic came to me! How cool is that? I came inside and started writing. If I had forced myself to sit down and write I would have wasted a good chunk of time at the computer trying to come up with something, not gotten any real writing done and not getting any work done outside either!

Going with my energy was actually energizing!

When you're struggling with priorities, ask not what you should do, ask what you want to do! Follow your energy and trust that the results will take care of themselves.

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