How to Fill up your battery pack
release fatigue and overwhelm
One topic that always comes up with my coaching and movement therapy clients, is that they don’t have enough energy to reach their goals and often feel overwhelmed instead.
Here’s the one thing you need to know:
All the things you ‘need to do’ and ‘should’ be doing will fall into place and feel less heavy the moment you
choose to do something for yourself FIRST.
You need energy-in before you can give more energy-out.
Overwhelm is a feeling of being under-resourced. In order to understand exactly where you feel under-resourced and begin to problem solve your way out of this, you need more cognitive energy, more ease and more happy hormones in your body.
It may feel like play, connection and doing the things you enjoy are taking you away from your goals.
The thought of choosing to do things you love can make you feel like:
You're not checking off your to do list
You’ll fall behind
Not being sensible
Not following the ‘get better rules’
Not being as helpful or supportive to others as you could be/should be
Play, connection and engaging in your interests actually gives you more energy and increased wellbeing which you can then use to put into the more ‘important’ things.
Such as:
Improving your health and wellbeing
Getting on with your life
Supporting others
Your dreams and aspirations
Your relationships
Your ability to problem solves, adapt and work efficiently and effectively
Plus-
You deserve to feel good!
Everyone around you wants you to feel good too, because your happiness affects them. This is why putting your happiness and energy above anything else is the most responsible thing you can do.
Putting your own needs, happiness and fulfilment ahead of all responsibilities is the least selfish and most intelligent response to overwhelm.
If you find yourself overwhelmed and wanting more energy instead, then answer these questions that I ask all of my clients when we first start talking about energy:
Grab and pen and paper- It can be really helpful to write this down or record your answers into your phone.
First of all, I want you to imagine you have a battery pack and in your battery pack, you have capacity for 10 blocks of energy. 10 is the max.
1. How many blocks of energy do you feel like you have right now?
Now, I know you didn’t answer 10- so you’ve given away some of your energy blocks.
That’s okay because it’s there to be used.
2. Where have you given these blocks to? Maybe one went to a person, two to work, another to a project, keeping the house in order. Take a moment and work out how you have shared-out your energy blocks.
3. What would happen to your life if you gave away another block?
4. What would happen to your wellbeing if you gave away another block?
Now, I’d like you to consider energy in, whilst it’s okay to use or gift your energy blocks, we want to make sure you have some coming in too.
5. How many blocks do you feel like you have received in the last two days?
6. Did someone give you these blocks or did you create them/ give them to yourself? (where have they come from?)
7. How many blocks could you have received but you chose not to take them?- turning down fun, couldn’t be bothered to go to bed early, run yourself that bath, read that book, decided to be annoyed instead of join in when your child was being silly and fun. What else is coming up for you here?
8. How many blocks do you think you might have missed by not being present or being distracted?
9. What else is coming up for you here?
I’ll leave you with one more question:
10. How clear are you on what energy-in looks like for you?
