How’s your energy?
When you boil it down, life’s all about energy, right?
Everything we do, all that we get caught up in day-to-day, from juggling distractions to completing projects to making tough decisions, is fueled by the quality of our energy.
We think of energy as the amount of vigor, vitality, or zest we have, or our quantity of “get up and go.”
There’s a tremendous interplay of biological and chemical systems within our bodies that are constantly regulating the impact of our surroundings and environment on our physical bodies. That interplay is all designed for us to thrive and to continue to access our own inner resources.
When energies are flowing and aligned within our lives, we can thrive with optimal health.
But what happens when our energy is off, flat, at zero?
Just this past week, Helena Helmersson stepped down as CEO of H&M, the fast fashion giant, bringing a surprise change in leadership to one of the world’s largest fashion retailers. She said, “I don’t have the energy to continue.”
The irony? Ms. Helmersson has worked at H & M over 20+ years, four as the head of sustainability. She was elevated to the role of CEO to head up the company’s agenda in this arena, to both double sales while halving the company’s carbon footprint by 2030.
Big job, and as we see from her decision, an unsustainable one.
Bottom line is that we’re all human, employees and CEOs alike, and like the companies we work for, all of us can be unaware of the price we pay by neglecting our own core energy needs.
Instead, we do our best, work hard, struggle with distraction and overwhelm, and over time can become increasingly burned out, de-motivated, and disengaged.
Did you know that 62% of people who don’t take regular breaks tend to become less productive, less engaged, less efficient and less focused.
The reality is, we don’t have to settle for this, we have choices.
ENERGY & WELLNESS
To explore the notion of energy and how it relates to wellness, I hosted a Roundtable discussion, The Wellness Fallacy: Professional Women Need More Than Mantras, that included three guest panelists – Renee Moorefield,PhD, Cindy Tsai, MD, and Belinda Ruiz, RN.
Like me, they commonly hear comments like:
1. “I don’t have enough energy to keep going.”
2. “My head’s spinning and decisions seem to escape me.”
3. “My anxiety levels at work are through the roof.”
Given the Roundtable title, we explored the definition of wellness, how it’s distinct from well-being, how the wellness industry promises certainty when there is none, and how we can improve our lives.
Wellness is an “active pursuit” (opposed to a passive one) associated with our intentions and values, choices and actions as we move toward an optimal state of health and well-being.
Wellness typically involves multiple dimensions that are interconnected and ideally act in harmony.
Physical: Nourishing a healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.
Mental: Engaging the world through learning, problem-solving, creativity, etc.
Emotional: Being aware of, accepting and expressing our feelings, and understanding the feelings of others.
Spiritual: Searching for meaning and higher purpose in human existence.
Social: Connecting and engaging with others and our communities in meaningful ways.
Environmental: Fostering positive interrelationships between planetary health and human actions, choices and well-being.
Wellness is an individual pursuit—we do have responsibility for our own choices, behaviors and lifestyles—but it is also significantly influenced by the physical, social and cultural environments in which we live.
Wellness then can be defined as ‘the active pursuit of creating the conditions to choose to live a good life, despite circumstances.”
Or as one participant queried, “Could living a good life simply be a matter of choosing a good life?”
The Fallacy of Wellness is that the underlying pursuit of certainty – and the fantasied cookie cutter approach to securing it – doesn’t exist despite that great retreat or the latest face cream.
Instead, consider two pieces of advice followed from our conversation:
1) Develop greater awarenessof your body, your sleep, your feelings, your values, and yes, your overall energy.
2) Be proactiveand take on being your own best advocate to living a life of thriving.
You can also watch the recording of The Wellness Fallacy: Professional Women Need More Than Mantras. Click here to view.
Don’t forget to also take my Leadership Advantage Qui Advantage Quiz! Leadership Advantage Quiz | Q4 Consulting (q4-consulting.com)
How do you feel about your level of energy and wellness? I’d love to hear from you. Reach me here: DrChris@Q4-Consulting.com
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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF The Leadership Pause
I’m Dr. Chris Johnson, I coach changemakers and leaders with practical tools to pause, feel, and zero in on their old strategies to renew their energy, extend compassion, make clear decisions, and create real change by using their power skills.
If you want to find the light and set intentions for real change in 2024, I can help.
Using research and content from my book, The Leadership Pause, I crafted Calm the Chaos for Busy Professionals, a powerful online course that’ll begin in February 2024.
Check out both here: The Leadership Pause: Sharpen Your Attention, Deepen Your Presence, and Navigate the Future: Chris L. Johnson: 9781956072044: Amazon.com: Books (see if you can shorten this link), and Calm the Chaos: Calm the Chaos for Conscious Leaders | Q4 Consulting (q4-consulting.com)
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