15 Tips to Overcoming Exhaustion

In this week’s Success Newsletter, I would like to reveal 15 tips to overcoming exhaustion – the ways we waste and drain our personal energy and the ways we can reenergize ourselves.

First a quick update:

“Our fascination with evil”
What drives us to immerse ourselves in movies, books and video games about evil and villains? Where does this fascination come and is it true that good and evil exists in all of us? Read the interview/conversation between myself and Professor Philip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University as we also explore the controversial Stanford Prison Experiment which had to be shut down after one week as participants turned evil and began to torture others and; what turns us to be good or evil – is it something outside of us such as the Devil? Click here to find out.

Now, let’s talk about the 15 tips to overcoming exhaustion – the ways we waste and drain our personal energy and the ways we can reenergize ourselves.

There are many magical aspects to being a child, and one of them is the seemingly boundless energy that every child demonstrates.

Can you recall what it felt like to be a child with so much energy that your parents would tell you to stop playing and go to bed?

Few of us, if any, had ever imagined in our childhood, that one day, that endless energy would actually end and run out; that we would see our bottomless well begin to slowly run dry.

Had we known that back then, would we change what we have done and what we are doing? Had we known that we have one full tank only, would we have taken more care of the way we used the gas?

Unfortunately, it’s not until we become physically ill, run down, stressed-out or suffer from exhaustion that we awake to realize we have limited energy supplies. And even then, few people actually become enlightened to the truth about how they expend and waste their daily energy as well as their life force.

In my book “Get What You Want!”, I reveal that we experience life in four realms – Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual. Here are 15 tips on how to stop wasting energy and instead use it wisely.

Mental – Thoughts, hobbies, education and learning

 “The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” – Aristotle, The Philosophy of Aristotle

1. What are you thinking throughout the day? What are your dominant thoughts? What are your first thoughts when you awake? What are your closing thoughts just before you fall asleep?

2. Beware of obsessing, blaming, condemning, criticizing, or justifying. Instead, focus your thoughts and mental images on what you want, and take action to get it. For one day, use a timer and set it to intervals of 10 minutes. Each time it sounds off, ask yourself “What was I thinking? Does this help me get what I want?” When you encounter thoughts that rob your energy, stop and change those thoughts. Practice changing the thought for 30 consecutive days.

3. Are you devoting time and energy to avoiding problems or solving problems? Take responsibility for your life and choices. You consume the same amount of mental energy wishing on what you want as you do actually planning what you want.

4. Notice to where you direct your energy and focus; how much of it is wasted on meaningless things such as surfing the internet, gossip or negative talk? “Meaningless” refers to things that have no resolution, no purpose or no benefit (i.e. arguments that go nowhere.)

5. Reduce stress by simplifying your life and, fix those small things around the house. Every time you look at something that needs fixing but you don’t take action, it drains your energy and creates negative thoughts and stress.

Emotional – Relationship with self and others; love

“When we dislike someone, or feel threatened by someone, the natural tendency is to focus on something we dislike about the person, something that irritates us. Unfortunately, when we do this – -instead of seeing the deeper beauty of the person and giving them energy – we take energy away and actually do them harm. All they know is that they suddenly feel less beautiful and less confident, and it is because we sapped their energy.” – James Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy

6. How do you treat yourself and others? Are you compassionate, patient and forgiving? Do you allow others to use, abuse, or victimize you? Do you allow others to drain your energy? Establish boundaries and develop your emotional intelligence. Beware of harsh self-judgments; the way you judge yourself is the way you judge others and vice versa. Find the balance; read my article  “Dealing with toxic friends”.

7. Beware of wasting energy trying to correct, convince, convert or change others. Notice how much time and energy you give to arguments or criticizing others. Does it feel better at the end? Do you actually achieve anything at all? Beware of reacting to things; give yourself 24 hours or wait overnight before responding. Beware of not being true to yourself i.e. avoid pleasing others, seeking their approval or going against your values and priorities.

8. Beware of the treacherous ego trap of constantly trying to prove yourself right and others wrong. Adopt the motto “I choose happiness before choosing to be right” i.e. discern which battles are crucial and which are simply energy wasters.

9. Whom have you not yet forgiven? The resentment is draining your energy.

Physical – Health, financial goals, material needs

“I am somewhat exhausted; I wonder how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor?” – Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure Of The Dying Detective

Your body receives energy through food, air and water.

How do you take care of your body?

10. Your organs and body functions are wasted trying to filter out chemicals, toxins and artificial stimulants. It might feel good now and it might get you through the day, but your body will suffer later.

11. Focus on oxygenating your body by doing daily exercise and meditating. Look for ways to have fun when you exercise. Yoga and meditation have been proven to grow dendrites in the brain i.e. they heal the brain.

12. Give priority to sleep. Take a vacation. If you don’t stop working now to take care of your body, your body will stop you from working.

Spiritual – Purpose & mission, service to others

“It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.” – Helen Keller

13. Are you clear about your values and your own life purpose and mission? Have you established a list of your values? Ensure that your choices and actions are in alignment with your values and standards.

14. Have you identified your passion? What energy are you devoting to living your passion?

15. What are you doing to connect with others (sense of community) and what are you doing to contribute and give back? Also read my articles “How to become clear about what you really want”  and “What do you want?”.

Remember that losing, leaking and wasting energy in any one realm affects the other. If you are mentally exhausted, you will eventually become physically and emotionally exhausted. If you lack clarity about your spiritual purpose (mission, values or passion) you will roam lost in the world without any direction and you will be lead and influenced by others, thus, wasting your precious energy and life force.

Finally, always be cognizant that each one of us possesses only one tank full of energy – there’s no refilling. How are you going to use it?

“Why they always look so serious in Yoga? You make serious face like this, you scare away good energy. To meditate, only you must smile. Smile with face, smile with mind, and good energy will come to you and clean away dirty energy.”– Ketut Liyer, the Balinese healer form the book “Eat, Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert

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I wish you the best and remind you “Believe in yourself -You deserve the best!”

Patrick Wanis Ph.D.
Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert & SRTT Therapist
www.patrickwanis.com