Protect Your Energy

A little bit of personal responsibility and a little don't mess with my energy. 

This rant is a call for people to pay attention to the energy they need and those things and people that affect it. 

Call it being "in-state". Call it when things "flow." Call it "when the stars align." It doesn't matter what you choose to identify it as but for anyone that is operating at a high level, we know it. We can sense it. We can feel it.

The words are coming to you; answers are forming to questions before questions know there are answers. These moments can deliver breakthroughs and drive innovation forward faster. They can secure new relationships and can bring lighting bolt strength ideas. This state is where we want to operate, and sometimes this is where we demand to work from. 

What gets you into that state can vary moment by moment. There are tricks from breathing, reading, jumping up and down, focusing on abundance, positivity, family, history, and so much more. Whether you focused your way into state or you found yourself there in the middle of a conversation, I'm insanely happy you are there. 

I'm even more ecstatic for you if you got yourself there right when you needed it. When you stared at a critical calendar entry and thought to yourself, "what am I going to say, how is this going to go?".

Or worse, when you stare at an empty calendar and know you need to put something on the table. Time to earn, I need this. 

Now that you are there, open your eyes to what takes you out of your state.

Pay attention to what affects you. Who affects you. 

People, places, thoughts, lists, guilt, fear, and insecurities, there are so many things that we encounter as leaders that transfer their negative energy on to us. Whether intentional or accidental, the net negative result on you is the same. 

You are jerked violently back to a level of energy that crushes the ability for innovative thoughts and decisions. 

While interactions with negative people and items can't always be avoided, they can be corralled. Those meetings, conversations, emails, tasks can be chunked into time slots that keep them contained. 

You don't have to have every conversation or deal with every situation right now or even every day. We certainly don't have to pick up the call or respond to the text.

You don't have to be available or give the impression that you are accessible. 

When you know you have a challenge coming. When you know you want your best self to show up for a meeting. When you know that there isn't a path forward and you have to make one, try first to set yourself up. 

Start with blocking your time. Move on to shutting off your notifications. Nothing coming through a Slack update is going to help you right now. Commit yourself to be present and to focus on what's next singularly.

Make a deal with your subconscious that you will check on everything you miss later.

Get yourself ready for a state of energy that you need and then make sure no one can snap you out of it.