“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

– Nikola Tesla

Tesla probably had a lot of secrets. But he also uncovered a lot of secrets. Undoubtedly, he understood where to devote his time and attention, and how to make the most massive of splashes from the rain he poured down. This is what I take away from Tesla’s quote about the secrets of the universe. Think about where you give your energy and attention, how frequently you give your energy and attention to those things, and what impact that has on your life, and the lives of others.

Whenever reflecting on life, I carefully assess how much I’m enjoying something. Whether it’s something that excites me. Or something that leaves me coming home, wanting to fall asleep.

It’s important for anyone to recognize what matters most to them and what they want to prioritize in their life. One of the best ways to do this is to understand what brings you energy, as opposed to what drains your energy. This is what Ali Abdaal calls ‘The Energy Audit’.

The premise of the ‘Energy Audit’ is to recognize what gives you energy, as opposed to what drains your energy. If we can understand this discrepancy, we can actively work to bring out the kinds of experiences that we enjoy most, while limiting the experiences that make us fall flat onto our faces into the pillow of the night.

I wrote down my answers earlier this week, and found it illuminating toward what I truly want to prioritize in life. Here’s what I came up with:

Energizers	Drainers
-> REC Programs / working with kids. Our community events. -> Talking to my best friends. Love and affection from friends. -> Trail Running, especially long days. -> Writing, even reading. -> Eating and sleeping right. Pilates.	-> Negative people. -> Feeling like I’ve done something wrong. -> Driving 1 hour+. Even 45 mins. -> Not eating & sleeping right. No exercise.

First, some of my answers surprised me. Mainly, my thoughts around exercise. I felt like I garnered the most energy from my longest days out on the trails. Those runs should be the ones that wreck me. That leave me feeling depleted and destroyed. Sometimes they do. But they’re also the runs that excite me most. That fuel further inspiration inside and outside of running. Shorter runs do almost nothing for me. They don’t drain my energy, but they don’t produce the same positive vibes.

Meanwhile, I listed ‘No exercise’ as an actual energy drainer. When I don’t have any exercise, I’m not the same energetic person. In fact, those are my weirdest days. Knowing this (and having always known this about myself), it’s important for me to prioritize exercise into my life and my daily routine.

I expected to get insights like this out of completing the audit. But I actually found it most useful in understanding what I left out. What I neglected to put into either bucket.

So, after completing the task, I then put two thought bubbles in the middle. They each encompassed a key area of my life that I neglected to represent as either an energy giver or an energy drainer. I wrote:

-> “Social time only sometimes.”
-> “Teaching only sometimes.”

Although I love both these items and make them an active priority, they only give me energy some of the time.

I love teaching. I love being in the classroom (gym) for two hours full of energetic personalities and high-quality leaders. I love feeling like I can make an impact on their lives.

But as opposed to my non-profit work with kids, it pales in comparison.

This is more of a recent revelation. For the first few semesters, I always came back from the hour long drive still full of excitement.

Now, I come back in some of my strangest states. It’s not even necessarily the act of teaching. It’s the hour+ drive, and everything else around the 2-hour class. But even then, the teaching itself rarely gives me that same jolt of energy that the arrows in the ‘Energizers’ column produce.

In understanding this phenomenon, it’s clear to me that I have other priorities that I care about more. I rarely walk away from class feeling a sense of ‘flow’. I’m completely fine to escape those moments. In fact, I’m too eager to get back to everything else in my life that I enjoy even more.

Teaching often feels like one of the coolest, most enjoyable things in my life. It’s something I immediately say when people ask about me. But there’s also elements about it that I don’t enjoy. This is something I’ve been carefully paying attention to in the last few months in deciding where I want to be next September. I might not have an answer yet, but recognizing these feelings are an important first step in enacting change if needed.

Meanwhile, social time is also something that I enjoy. I’m an extravert that loves to be in front of a group of people and lead them to wherever they want to go. But social time only gives me energy some of the time. Most of the time, it does nothing for me. It’s not an energy drainer like it might be for most that lean toward introversion. It’s just something that helps me stay in a neutral, positive position.

Knowing this, I can try to understand what kinds of social situations produce optimal feelings. Typically, it involves seeing a group of 3-4 high energy people for a few hours. Typically, I’m already close with them. Typically, I don’t have to drive all that far. It’s usually not the 1-on-1’s, except for a few exceptional people. I tend to escape those moments with less energy, and even less enjoyment.

I recognized this at the end of 2023. Some of my favourite moments of the year were the moments I spent with groups of friends. So I made it an active goal for 2024 to hangout with a group of friends at least once a week. I’ve stuck to the goal every week so far this year.

When you realize what energizes you, you can then make those things an active priority in your life. You can set goals around those arrows, and work to bring them out every single day. For example, it’s almost an unconscious goal for myself to eat right, sleep right and do mobility exercises every single day. On days when I don’t do this, energy is drained before the day’s even started. I could take this one step further by setting specific input-based goals around these elements, and even schedule them into my calendar to ensure they happen.

Then when it comes to the ‘drainers’, we can then make more of an effort to cut people out of our lives who don’t bring us value. Who make us feel small. Who surround us with negativity. Who don’t fuel the fire in any positive way. We can also work to limit the things in our lives that fail to give us that same energy that we desire and crave. We could even outsource some of those things to other people if in a position to do so. Perhaps I would enjoy teaching more if I could sit in my car and write on the way to teach, rather than the stress of the 401.

With that, I think it’s important to recognize what things in life bring energy, and which drain energy. Knowing this, you can then make steps to live your life the way you want.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!