Your Most Important Resource (Not time, not money...)
“Time is money”.
“Time is your most finite resource - once it’s spent you can’t get it back.”
“You need money to make the most of your time.”
These and many other sayings are all true.
But I’ve been thinking a lot, as I look at my limited time and my ambition for greater wealth (wealth in all its forms, not just money - though including that too), if I’m focusing too much on these two resources.
We have a third resource available to us, and it might just be the most important one, especially for a leader.
Energy.
Time🕒, Energy⚡, and Money💵. These are the three resources we have available to us. And, they exist on a scale of most limited to most unlimited.
On the far left side, unlimited, we’ve got money💵. It feels limited to many, but so many people with the most money, many of whom haven’t always had money, understand that you can always make more of it. It’s theoretically infinite.
On the far right side, limited, is time🕒. It’s finite. We’ve only got so much of it, we don’t know how much we have, and we’ll never get it back once we’ve spent it.
Energy⚡, then, occupies the space in the middle of the scale.
It’s not finite in the same way as time, but we will only have so much at once, and we will need to spend some time to get it back.
And money can free up our energy to be spent on other things, so we can in an indirect sort of way “buy” more energy, at least, more energy that can be directed where we want it to be.
Circumstances can affect our energy, probably more than they affect our time, but perhaps not as radically as they affect our money.
In ancient China, Chi - life force energy - was considered to be within us all and to determine our health. As such, we now (and for thousands of years) have had practices such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong, as well as many martial arts that make use of this concept too, to do everything from energise us, to keep us healthy, and to protect us.
In other words, your life force is energy.
Quantum physicists discovered that physical atoms are vortices of energy that are constantly spinning and vibrating, and that each one is radiating its own unique energy signature.
In other words: you are energy.
Energy therefore is, from a certain perspective, everything that is, insofar as we can tell. All that we are is energy, and relies on energy - all results we create rely on it. We don’t always have much to spare, so we need rest or to focus.
Guarding this energy becomes important not just on this deeper level, but even on a very practical and obvious one: prioritise where you put your energy.
So I hope you’re seeing by now that energy is a unique, special, and in many ways sacred tool. Why would you waste such a gift?
👉A leader will not be in a place without a good reason; wasting that energy within your limited time will not serve the cause.
👉A leader will not be with people who harm them in becoming the person they want or need to be; this doesn’t serve the cause either.
👉A leader will not spend their energy in negative or unhelpful situations or emotional states, as much as possible; that total waste of energy definitely won’t serve the cause.
Where are you spending your energy right now? Do you need to re-focus it? We all do sometimes - and I hope by understanding how special this resource is, you’ll take more time (more energy!) to respect it. I know I’m trying to!
Lots of love, and here’s to your success! - Seven
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About Seven
Hey friends! I’m Seven - I write about challenges and opportunities affecting leaders across business. I release a weekly newsletter and a podcast, helping folks understand the leadership journeys and challenges out there, so we can better understand our purpose, place, and potential. The goal: to learn about what it means to be a leader, to support leaders, to find leaders, and to discover the leader within.
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Lots of love, and here’s to your success!