What Is Energy?

The title this week is a question people keep asking me. It’s a good question to ask because you want to be sure you have “the right stuff”. And it’s good to answer so we can be sure we are on the same page, you and I.

I “know” what energy is, especially in my usage. But, concisely communicating it to you is challenging. It’s challenging because of the power it holds in our lives, and because of the complexity of the answer.

Energy is a spectrum of “mood” ranging from depressed to manic. When you are feeling low you don’t get as much done, you don’t have the “energy” to do much. And, in contrast, when you are up and manic you get a ton done, you have the “energy” to do lots. Energy affects mood as much as mood affects energy.

It’s action. No energy, no action. Abundantenergy, abundant action.

A way others understand it is optimism. I think, though I’d glad to hear a different opinion here, that optimism impacts energy more than energy impacts your optimism. I’ve known energetic people who don’t exhibit optimism, but I don’t know optimists who don’t exhibit energy.

Your energy relates to your ambition and goals, like in a self-feeding mechanism. When you have energy you can dream of your future and where your ambition and goals will take you, but when your energy is low you can’t easily imagine your future or see where your hopes and dreams will take you. Again, at its worst, you’re in a full-blown depression. And, in conjunction with that set of thoughts, having ambition contributes to your energy level. Seeing your bright future with your goals molding the way generates energy.

It’s connected to your purpose, self-image, and mission. Being grounded with your purpose and mission and having a strong self-image gives you energy and keeps it charged. Often, people who have no sense of mission or purpose, and people with a low self-image, also have a low energy level with no reserves to get them through the day. Having a high energy level to help buoy your self-image and to support your purpose and mission sounds much more satisfying to me. How about you?

It impacts your health. Feeling down in the dumps? How does your stomach feel? Do you suffer with colds often? Those are just small examples of health that can come from a low-energy life, and that can bring a high-energy life down. Turn your energy up and watch your health improve. Improve your health and watch your energy go up. Nice.

It’s the spring in your step. You don’t spring when your energy is dragging, do you? I know you can decide to walk with vitality and that lifts your energy level — a fake-it-until-you-make-it approach to an energized life. You have more control over your energy and your mindset than you might want to acknowledge. Maybe that spring comes naturally, and it helps keep your energy lifted. That’s the way to bounce!

Your perseverance is a reflection of your energy. Can you push on, or stick with “it”, when your energy is flagging or at rock bottom? Probably not. And, as you find the energy to persevere, even a little bit, you’ll find that both your energy and your tenacity increase. That’s the way things get done, that’s the way your dreams get met, and that’s the way you make a difference in your life. Persevere, baby.
This is one of the big things I work on with clients with coaching. Getting that energy up helps focus on purpose, which helps increase energy, which creates accomplishment, which creates energy, which reinforces purpose and action. It’s a great feedback loop, and clients love it!

Another idea that resonates with people is “horsepower”. Ok, maybe that term isn’t intended for humans, but I like it anyway for this discussion. Wikipedia says it’s the unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done. Informally, according to dictionary.com, it’s the capacity to achieve or produce, or it’s strength or talent. That’s what I’m talking about! Your capacity, your strength, your talent. Yeeess! And you have to fuel that capacity, strengths, and talents with lots of goodness (aka food, sleep, movement, and intention) to reach your accomplishments.

Energy is the capacity to work. So, maybe this isn’t that much different than horsepower. It was part of my word-association process though, and it might be a phrase that speaks to you more than horsepower does, so here it is in the discussion. Capacity to work or implement or do is important. Without action, that capacity is just an as-yet-unfulfilled promise, a whisper. You have capacity. What are you going to choose to do with it? How will you act with your capacity?

It’s resilience. Life loves throwing curve balls. Resilience is the energy you use to respond and react to those life changes or challenges. Your resilience comes from your attitude, your support system, and the things you do to take care of your physical being. That sounds a lot like what you’ve read above, and in other articles by me, doesn’t it? Since you never know when you will need resilience — you never know when life will throw you for a loop or what that disturbance will look like — it’s good to keep resilience strong and present in your life. You can’t create it out of thin air, but you can use what you have. So, have a lot of resilience! (A lot of coaching clients need help here, too. I have some great tools to help.)

Your energy is your sense of aliveness, engagement, and presence. It seems, by this concept, that I see energy as the essence of life and the sense of being present. Does that come naturally to you? Do you have to work to keep that in your life? Or, do you not worry about it and just slog along worrying about the future and fretting about the past, missing what’s going on in front of you and within you as life passes you by? Not that your life is a democracy I’m involved in, but I vote that you live in the now and stay engaged and present, and keep your aliveness vibrant.

Energy is also that unspoken communication between people. You know what I mean, right? You feel others’ energies. You feel anger, love, frustration, joy, and more from the people you are around, and with the public at large. Have you ever had an immediate reaction to someone you see for the first time — a push or a pull? Others feel that from you too. That’s part of the energy I’m thinking of here because it’s a reflection of your interaction in the world. When you have a strong, positive energy you send a strong, positive message to the people you are with. People are attracted to that, and it’s people who make up your support system.

It’s an ever-active spiral of up and down. Life is like that, moving up and down. Your challenge is to find the myriad ways to keep the spiral going up much more than it’s going down. Another challenge is to have and maintain the skills and tools to turn a downward spiral into an upward spiral. Having energy isn’t a static place. Having energy is constant effort. Having energy is so worthwhile.

The way I define energy, for the purpose of living in focused energy and for living an energized life, is that energy is the fuel for action — mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual action. This is the stuff that a vital, productive, alert, and joyous life is made of, and this is the stuff that paves the way for you to age gracefully. We are all getting older by the day. Are you going to do it with style and grace, or kicking and screaming? Will you glow with age, or will you get wrinkly and saggy? Ick! Glow on….

What is energy? It’s your life!

The good question was asked and answered. If you need help boosting your energy, and getting it — and your life — back in gear, or on track, I’m here for you. It’s up to you to live an energized life for maximum vitality, productivity, alertness, joy, and graceful aging. Coaching you how to generate and maintain your energy through your day is what I here for. Check out my coaching page and let’s get going.