August 12, 2009 - What Energizes You?

Main Idea

When was the last time you jumped out of bed on a Monday morning right when the alarm clock went off?  Were you excited to go to work?  Why?  Or when was the last time that you were excited to go home so you could attend your son’s monthly cub scout meeting?

Expansion of Idea

Most of us are not brimming with excitement to go to work or attend a child’s function that we know will be boring.  Why is that?  A lot has to do with our energy levels.  We are running so hard and we are so drained and we know that we do not have enough time to get everything done.  And knowing that we can’t get everything done drains us further.  What can we do? 

All of us have to find something that re-energizes us.  For me, the best thing I do all year is go to a conference called the Leadership Summit.  It does the following:

  • I take a break from work and spend it with clients, friends and family

  • I learn about leadership and management topics that can help me in all aspects of my life.

  • I get my priorities back in line.  They can get pretty far from where I want them to be.

This is not necessarily the right thing for you.  The point is everyone needs to find out what is right for them.  And we all need something like this because we are running so hard.  Most small business owners, managers, and employees would say that they do not have time for something like this.  However, if you can become a better leader or manager, you might be able to avoid mishandling an employee situation or a customer situation.  The time savings on maintaining an employee can be huge.  And if you can reenergize yourself, then you effectively re-energize your team members, which then reenergize your customers and your business.  As leaders, everyone else gets their energy from you.  If your energy is zero, guess what the energy level is around you.  Who wants to do business with a company with zero energy????

If you still think this is a waste, think about the last really bad decision that you made.  I will bet that you were worn out and you agreed to something that if you were in a strong energy state you would have said no to.  How much time did that decision cost you?                       

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

  1. What is my energy level?

  2. What am I doing now to re-energize myself?

  3. What can I schedule in the future to help myself?

  4. If you think Tim was thinking of you when he wrote this send him an e-mail!