Are you burning energy for nothing in return?

I was all fired up with nothing to show for it.

My husband was getting ready to pop a frypan on the stove for dinner and asked, ‘Did you turn this on for me?’, pointing at the biggest gas burner.

I told him no, unfortunately I hadn’t been so helpful as to turn it on for him.

So we wondered - how did it come to be turned on, because we’d bet it wasn’t either of our kids that did it?!

And then I realised the last time I used it was approximately 12 hours earlier to cook my eggs for breakfast…and I hadn’t turned it off!?

I found myself replaying the morning in my mind and realised that in my haste to simultaneously cook breakfast, read spelling words to my son and prepare lunchboxes, that last kinda important step in the cooking process got totally missed.

The burner plate had been singed white and I’m left wondering what dent this is going to put in our next gas bill.

A whole lot of precious energy wasted.

And it got me thinking how often do we use a whole lot of our own energy for not much in return?? Energy which doesn’t come with a quantified dollar figure, but which carries with it significant cost?

How often do you feel like you’re energy depleted yet spinning wheels??

Seemingly standing still, struggling to build forward momentum?

It might be that you’re spending an inordinate amount of time fire fighting problems with your team.

Or trying to wear multiple hats in your organisation, stretched to the max but not feeling like you’re wearing any as well as you’d like.

And just like that gas flame that went unnoticed for hours on end, there’s a massive energy drain which comes at a cost.

When you’re in this mode, you keep burning energy but you’ve got not nearly enough to show for it.

You can’t be your best self (your health and wellbeing may be suffering), you can’t be the best leader you can be for your team (it’s difficult to be deliberate as a role model when you’re barely treading water yourself), and ultimately your strategy, performance and impact bear the brunt of it (it’s pretty tough keeping your eye on that prize when self and team aren’t in the place they need to be).

But one thing’s for sure, you’re probably pretty keen to find a way to turn things around.

So if this is you now, or you’re at risk of finding yourself in this place, how about slowing down to a stop for just a few minutes today?

Then ask yourself:

• What will I choose to do today to give me energy gain?
• What will I choose NOT to do today to avoid energy drain?
• How might I best use my energy today to get me closer to the impact I need and want to make?

So you can line up how you spend your time with what will optimise your energy for impact.

And when you’re ready to tackle your energy drain and gain for results and impact over the long term, how about you join the other 94% of C-suite leaders who admit they could use some help*?

*2023 Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence Survey

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I'm Louise Gibson from With Verve .

I help purpose-led CEOs, Executive leaders and owners of small to medium size organisations to cut through the noise and build momentum - to realise their potential as leaders, and to inspire, enable and mobilise their teams for optimum performance and impact.?

If you're ready to explore what's possible for you, your team and your impact then why not book a call to chat with me?