How to Reach New Levels of Performance with Better Energy

Dr. Christine Li:
Welcome back to the Make Time for Success podcast. This is episode number 238. Have you ever wondered why some days you feel totally unstoppable and other days you can't focus for more than 10 minutes at a time? I think I have an answer to that interesting question and it has a lot to do with your energy. And that's why I thought I would put together this episode where I share with you my learnings and my observations on energy. How to preserve it, how to conserve it, how to amplify it so that you have a wonderful chance at living and fulfilling the dreams that you have in your mind and in your heart. We're going to talk about how to get into activities that actually increase your energy rather than drain you. We're going to talk about how sometimes we fall into mindset traps that drain our energy and how to stop doing that. And we're also going to talk about how to start arguing for your possibilities rather than for your limitations so that you have all the energy that you have at your disposal so that you sail through that journey towards your biggest goals and your biggest life dreams.

Dr. Christine Li:
If you're ready to get motivated and inspired, keep listening and I look forward to sharing this episode with you now.

Dr. Christine Li:
Hi, I'm Dr. Christine Li and I'm a psychologist and a procrastination coach. I've helped thousands of people move past procrastination and overwhelm so they could begin working to their potential. In this podcast, you're going to learn powerful strategies for getting your mind, body and energy to work together so that you can focus on what's really important.

Dr. Christine Li:
And accomplish the goals you want to achieve.

Dr. Christine Li:
When you start living within your full.

Dr. Christine Li:
Power, you're going to see how being.

Dr. Christine Li:
Productive can be easy and how you.

Dr. Christine Li:
Can create success on demand. Welcome to the Make Time for Success podcast.

Dr. Christine Li:
So you know, if you've been listening.

Dr. Christine Li:
To this podcast, and thank you for listening to this podcast, that I talk a lot about things like focus, decluttering, upping your performance in all ways. And I thought today before drafting this particular episode that really what underlies all those different types of areas of focus that I tend to gravitate towards is energy. We need to talk about energy. The more that I study and learn about how to work better, how to have a great mindset, how to really have a wonderful life, the more I am encouraged to really take a look at how I am focusing on my own energy. What am I using my energy for? How am I using it? Am I respecting my energy for what it is because my energy has my unique energetic pattern to it. Am I working in a smart way to make sure I conserve and preserve my energy? These are all things that are really top of mind for me because I believe now that I've gone through all this learning and training and client work and and life work. I believe that when we have great energy coursing through us, things tend to go better. And who doesn't want things to go better? So I'm going to share with you a few of my own theories about how energy works and what is important when we are thinking about using and conserving our energy.

Dr. Christine Li:
The first theory that I have is that when you look for ways to.

Dr. Christine Li:
Use your energy and have in mind how that energy might be returned to.

Dr. Christine Li:
You, you end up getting involved in really fun and valuable and meaningful work.

Dr. Christine Li:
And the reason why I say this.

Dr. Christine Li:
Is I have found that being in the helping profession, I'm a psychologist and a coach and I have found time and time again that when I feel like I am working to help people, that my energy doesn't actually get drained, it's actually expanded because I feel accomplished. I feel like I've done some good. I feel like the person that I'm helping may be helped and that that person gets to have a good ripple effect with the people in their life. So I would love for you to think, how can I use my energy in a way that ensures that I am getting energy in return? Right. It's not a tit for tat kind of a thing, it doesn't have to be exact, but that you are involving yourself in your life in a way where you don't see things as an energy drain. You see things as all energy potential. That your contribution can feed somebody else's contribution and that joy gets returned to you, that boost in energy gets returned to you. And I feel like everyone helping each other out can lead to an easier life, a happier life, a healthier life.

Dr. Christine Li:
The second theory that I have is a positive mindset is your greatest shortcut to not draining yourself of energy. I need to figure out a better way to say these things. A positive mindset basically saves your energy. For me, it's like starting at the starting line in a race instead of starting in the locker room. Right. I think that if you have any sort of negative opinion prediction mindset language that you're working with, it's kind of like saying I'm going to win the race, but I'm going to start from.

Dr. Christine Li:
The locker room and I'm using that.

Dr. Christine Li:
Analogy because we're all doing races of some kind, metaphorically. We are trying to maybe build a business, maybe you're trying to write a book, maybe you're trying to raise your family, maybe you're trying to think about what you're doing for your retirement or your next big move in your life. And I think that when you start by believing that your success is going to happen and adopting that feeling of sanity, security, that you are reliable, that your steps will get you to where you want to go, when you feel in that positive frame of mind, you're going to keep yourself well, you're not going to freak yourself up, you're going to keep making great decisions about that journey you are on. When you make sure that what you're saying to yourself and how you're thinking is positively oriented, when we are negatively oriented, we are seeing all the reasons that what we want cannot happen. And I feel that that's actually a waste of your time because you're taking time that you could be moving towards.

Dr. Christine Li:
Your goal to scare yourself, to depress.

Dr. Christine Li:
Yourself, to worry yourself and to think about all of the things you shouldn't really be thinking about. You're not planning, you're worrying, right? Planning is totally fine. But don't plan with this feeling like, oh, it might not work out. Plan with the feeling of, oh, I've totally got this in the bag. I'm so excited that this is happening. Let's go. All right, so remember, be your own hype person and then hype yourself up even more. There is no limit to how positive you can be.

Dr. Christine Li:
It might be annoying to other people, but I promise you it's going to help you to really see what you're made of and what you're headed towards. The third idea and theory that I have about energy is that you need to be open hearted and open minded in order to really see the picture in front of you. I feel that if you're guarded against something like criticism, judgment, failure, embarrassment, anything like that, anything negative, you're guarding against stuff and people and other people's energy, right? You're doing a lot of guarding. And I believe that when you're guarding against something, you're not actually giving yourself the chance to play full out as your full being and your full excitement and enthusiasm and you're not playing with your full capacity and your full set of skills. And I also believe that when you play full out, it's really this amazing event. I don't think we oftentimes play full out because we are so concerned about other people, consequences, negative thinking. We have so many things and elements that we're trying to manage while moving forward. But I think each of us also do have the experience of moments in our lives where we have played full out and it was exhilarating and it was exciting and we felt like we understood things as things, they were happening right away, that we were on fire.

Dr. Christine Li:
And I really love those moments.

Dr. Christine Li:
And I just want to encourage you to avoid gardening, avoid being split in your attention and decide I'm going to try to play full out in my own life as best as I can, as often as I can. And I feel everybody who is alive has a chance to write their own.

Dr. Christine Li:
Story and we don't, unfortunately, all have.

Dr. Christine Li:
The same number of opportunities in this day and age. But we do have this expansive potential within each of us. I will put it that way, that no matter what your outer circumstances are, you have enormous potential from within to be the author of your own story, to expand your energy, to deepen your commitment to seeing what you want to have happen, happen, and to connect with other people in the world in this open hearted, open minded way so that we all get to thrive and we all get to be at our best.

Dr. Christine Li:
The next theory that I have is, is no matter who you are, you deserve to live in your full potential and with your full plate of possibilities.

Dr. Christine Li:
I think that when we think our time is limited and it is limited because we're all going to pass away at some point.

Dr. Christine Li:
And when we think that our chances are limited, we tend to hold ourselves.

Dr. Christine Li:
Back from playing full out and, and going for what we want.

Dr. Christine Li:
And because of that, I no longer.

Dr. Christine Li:
For myself think that my time is limited and that my chances are few. I have seen people limit themselves with.

Dr. Christine Li:
Fears, with self limiting beliefs like oh.

Dr. Christine Li:
I'm not strong enough, oh I'm not.

Dr. Christine Li:
Intelligent enough, oh I'm not experienced enough, things like that. And I feel that when we are dumbing down our own potential, when we're dumbing down our own minds and our sense of our brilliance, we are dumbing ourselves down. And that in essence is causing us to limit ourselves. So I want you to think for yourself.

Dr. Christine Li:
Huh?

Dr. Christine Li:
What if I did deserve everything that I'm wanting? What if I did have all the.

Dr. Christine Li:
Skills or the beginning of all the.

Dr. Christine Li:
Skills that are required for me to get to my end goal, right? To ask that person out on a date to go searching for my new apartment because I don't happen to like my new current apartment and just think to yourself. If I could just open my mind to thinking that I deserve what I crave and what I think I can have, then I think you'll be better at being your own hype person and better at seeing the opportunities when they really are there for you.

Dr. Christine Li:
Because they are.

Dr. Christine Li:
All right? So remember, you deserve everything that you think you're capable of. The next theory that I have is.

Dr. Christine Li:
An important one, and there's a reason.

Dr. Christine Li:
Why I mentioned this one last because I think it's kind of woven through all the other ones. And it is how you treat your body and your mind is essential to doing and feeling well. If you focus on having your body and mind be vibrant and healthy, you are going to have a full energy source. You're going to have vibrant energy throughout the day, throughout hard projects, throughout hard times in your life. And I don't wish any of you any hard times in your life, but.

Dr. Christine Li:
I absolutely do wish for you a.

Dr. Christine Li:
Full tank of vibrant energy. All right, we want to make sure, starting from theory number one of look for the work and the activities that will encourage you to replenish your energy fuel tank. You want to find people, habits, jobs, hobbies, ideas. Energy that causes you to feel inspired, not drained. That causes you to feel strong, not.

Dr. Christine Li:
Fragile, weak and tired.

Dr. Christine Li:
That causes you to feel like you're on instead of off. That's the simplest way of putting it. And therefore I want you to or.

Dr. Christine Li:
I suggest that you take 10 minutes.

Dr. Christine Li:
Today, right after listening to this episode and chart out for yourself, how are you going to do something today that will feed the health of your body and mind? We oftentimes forget that that takes planning too, right? We need time for the gym.

Dr. Christine Li:
We need time for good food.

Dr. Christine Li:
We need time to prepare for a full night's sleep, getting good sneakers. All these things feed your vibrant energy. So take the time that you need to make sure the vibrant energy gets created and preserved. To sum up, I would love for you to decide that you're going to be a better steward of your energy, that you're no longer going to decide that being stuck and stagnant is a good thing for you and your mind and your body and your life. You're going to decide that your future, you will appreciate what you do for yourself and your future today. I wish you all the best in thinking about all these energy theories that I've created. I would love to hear your thoughts about any and all of them. Feel free to direct message me on Instagram.

Dr. Christine Li:
I am procrastination coach there and I also invite you to download the free worksheet that goes with this episode on Energy. You just go to maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com/energy Again, it's maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com/energy. You've got so much in you. You've got so much to do outside of you. I hope you have a whole bunch of fun. I'll see you next week.

Dr. Christine Li:
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Make Time for Success Podcast.

Dr. Christine Li:
If you enjoyed what you've heard, you.

Dr. Christine Li:
Can subscribe to make sure you get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also Visit our website maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com for past episodes, show notes, and all the resources we mention on the show. Feel free to connect with me over on Instagram too. You can find me there under the name Procrastination Coach. Send me a DM and let me know what your thoughts are about the episodes you've been listening to. And let me know any topics that you might like me to talk about on the show.

Dr. Christine Li:
Show.

Dr. Christine Li:
I'd love to hear all about how you're making Time for Success. Talk to you soon.