What’s More Important When It Comes To Success – Focus or Energy?

Last week I revealed my new mantra for my own personal success – Focus, Discipline and Energy. This week I would like to discuss the importance of Energy. As the season changes, our central heating boiler starts to grind into action, the morning alarm goes off when it is still dark  and we dig around for last year’s favourite warm jumper….. our bodies and minds are making a big adjustment. It’s a time of year that many  people don’t look forward to. The energy we need increases and I don’t know about you, but I’ve realised that I may well need to focus on my energy levels more right now – because I’m going to need a bit extra.

That’s beacuse it seems to me that you can be as focused and disciplined as you like – but if you are feeling tired or lethargic, or if it’s cold and dark outside, it is a real challenge to keep focused, and get the tasks done, even if you really have to.

So I’ve been working on finding ways to turn down the volume the impending Autumn and Winter changes are making, and get some sunshine into my life!

Can you imagine a time when you were FULL of ENERGY? When you were raring to go, attacking a project with zest? Just think  – are you more likely to enjoy the process, go the extra mile and is it more likely to be finished if you had more energy? The answer has to be a resounding, “Yes!”. So this week, think about how you can cultivate more energy in your life.

Arguably energy is everything – imagine having all the success in the world, all the money in the world, but not being able to get out of bed.There are times when I have been studying stock charts for hours and having  the time of my life, and there are times, when I am reading something and my eyes are closing and I could literally fall asleep right there and then.

So while it is different to health or fitness, it is extremely closely linked to both. Rather than go into a big lecture about drinking more water, juicing in the mornings, exercising, eating well etc., and then maybe not doing anything… or stocking up on artificial boosts such as energy drinks or caffeine, which will make things far worse,  I would rather remind you to do what is logical for you.

If there was one thing you could do to have more energy what would it be? Take a few minutes now to brainstorm just a couple of things you could do for the next few weeks. Go on, give yourself that gift.

If you are a rugby fan, you may well be riding on the crest of the energy wave created by the success of the Welsh Rugby Team last week. They came agonisingly close to reaching the World Cup Final, but were beaten by France on Saturday by a single point. Do you think that the match Referee had a bit too much energy when he sent off Sam Warburton early on in the game – or was the Welsh Captain unfocused?

I don’t want to start a sports debate …. I don’t really follow rugby that much – though I used to play for Kent and scored 3 tries at Twickenham – but the build up to any good game is exactly the kind of energy I’m talking about.

Go ahead and take a few minutes now. The answer might surprise you. It might be sleeping MORE. It might be getting up from the computer every 90 mins and doing something away from your desk. It might be doing less of what you hate doing and more of what you enjoy doing.

If you want instant energy, then just do more of what you love to do. I believe that when you do the things you love to do, you suddenly have a helluva lot more energy. This should give you a clue about what you should be doing and not doing in life. Even if you have a goal in life and it means you are disciplined and focused, you have to allow yourself to do the things you enjoy doing. If you don’t let the inner child out to play regularly, success will always escape you because that inner child or spirit will sabotage your success at the wrong moment.

Now imagine if you had too much fun, too much energy – and you ran riot without any focus at all? Are you asking yourself if this is possible?  What if you ran on your adrenals and you went from one project to the next, never completing anything. You wouldn’t achieve much on energy alone.

So the answer, as my mentor T Harv Eker says is, “Both!”

I just looked back at this description and basically described my daughter’s playtime antics. Kids, where do they get all that energy from and HOW can we bottle it up and sell it? Melania is 2.5 years old and is a huge bundle of energy -  but it is all over the place – and the wreckage of the playroom, with toys everywhere, is a sight to behold. Quite impressive.

I hope this blog has given you some food for thought. And talking of food, and giving you an example of focused energy, here is a picture of Melania and I making one of my favourite foods – home-cooked pizza.

Until next time!

Marcus