We all want more energy—to feel more fully alive and empowered, as if we’re transforming our lives beyond mere survival patterns.
Here are 3 tiny-but-powerful (think Lady Gaga) energy tips that will help you achieve exactly this.
1. The Power Minute
When you’re tired/drained/in a low mood, you’re in survival mode. Your lizard brain has taken over, and it is telling you that if you don’t get some proper rest soon you’ll die (assuming you’re not dangerously sleep-deprived of course).
Good news! You’re not a lizard, and you are blessed with consciousness and the ability to control your mind and nervous system. Sound scary? Impossible? I’m talking 60 seconds of conscious control here folks. (What else could you do in that time?).
How to Do It (Now!)
Take 60 seconds right now to be 100% in the moment and in love with your life. Fill those 60 seconds with as many powerful, happy memories, big appreciations, and good feelings as you can. Don’t waste a single millisecond in doubt or critical thinking—focus entirely on feeling good!
Set a timer if you have to and really challenge yourself. If you feel your conscious intention slipping, simply nudge it right back—find the discipline for these 60 seconds. This might feel at odds with how your brain normally “works,” and you might tell yourself you “can’t.”
If this is you, think of an area in your life where you regularly bring this kind of discipline—maybe with your body, or your work attitude—and bring those same values to this work: your vital energy!
I can guarantee this Power Minute will change your entire mood, energy levels, and the trajectory of your day. Make it a habit and it will change your life!
2. Mind the Gaps
When you feel like you need a day off or a 3-hour nap but really can’t afford to take that time out of your day, take fully-intentional, conscious mini-breaks at every possible point you can. Let go of the need to control and drive every second of your day, and challenge yourself to properly surrender into the natural “gaps.”
How to Do It (Now!)
First, make the decision right now that instead of picking up your phone (or at least before you do) you will choose one of these “Mind the Gap” actions for yourself.
When you sit down to begin work, close your eyes for a few moments and choose a positive, present, and non-practical intention for your day, and breathe it in more fully on each breath.
When you make (or grab) a cup of tea or coffee, do some stretches and let your mind rest deliberately on something beautiful instead of worrying constantly about what you’ve got to get back to.
At lunchtime, listen to a meditation and close your eyes, then take a walk in the park. Or write a list (with old fashioned pen and paper) of things you love about your life, or a mini letter to a dear friend.
When you leave your work for the day, take a full minute to shake it off—both mentally and physically!—to help you transition back to your personal life with ease.
These small actions don’t take any more time to do than scrolling through social media, and unlike that activity, these practices will recharge your spirits as well as significantly lowering your stress levels and making you feel like life really is worth living!
3. The Feeling Intention
This energy tip will help you practice the art of processing your feelings—whatever comes up (and whenever)—so you can grow through them. In doing this it becomes so much easier to actually choose your feelings on a daily basis!
How to Do It (Now!)
The golden key to this tip is the following mantra: “HONOR—ACKNOWLEDGE—EXPAND.”
So when I ask you to wake up in the morning and within the first hour of your day to choose 3 intentional feelings for that day, you know without a doubt that you can’t possibly fail.
Whatever is thrown at you, you will honor, acknowledge, and expand into it and then come back with conscious intent to your chosen feelings. Sounds easy in theory, but what about in practice?
Let’s say you decide to choose “compassion,” “calm,” and “confidence.” What happens when someone cuts across you on the road, almost taking you out? Do you swallow your anger, vitriol, and fear down wholesale or do you wallow in self-flagellation for your in-the-moment tirade and subsequent meltdown?
Remember the mantra! “HONOR—ACKNOWLEDGE—EXPAND.” The more you come back to this and the idea of processing difficult emotions (rather than suppressing or pushing through them), the more you will expand your emotional resilience and begin to actually win each day.
Are you ready? Try creating your own feelings board to remind you every morning, and watch your energetic brilliance begin to expand as if from nowhere!
As you begin to explore these 3 tiny-but-powerful energy tips, I hope you will also discover how to access this power consistently.
