Energy is a concept found in the physics as well as in alternative medicine and spirituality.
According to quantum physics, we are 98% made up of energy, in the sense of a force field between the smallest particles of matter that compose us.
What does this mean for you as a freelancer?
When you feel low, it may be because you're tired from your day or your work, but it can also come from other places, like your mind or your emotions.
Energy is the basis of your optimal functioning. It's by having energy that you can carry out your projects, develop your relationships and so on.
Here are three good reasons to respect your energy as a freelancer or solo-entrepreneur.
Your creativity is an essential skill for your business activities. It allows you to stay agile when facing difficult situations and also nourish your projects.
Creativity is a muscle, a skill that you can develop through practice. It depends on your experiences, but also your capacity to integrate what you learn from those experiences, and how you use this knowledge to create something new. As any other muscle, it needs energy to develop.
Your energy allows you to go into the world, to meet new people and live new experiences that will nourish you. It favours an attitude of curiosity and openness regarding new situations.
You most certainly figured out that when you are tired, you don’t have that much patience, and everything feels a lot heavier than usual. Unknown situations can then become stressful rather than enjoyable.
By taking care of your energy, by listening to your needs, you will be able to go through new experiences with more ease and attention. You can identify what gives you energy and what drains you, and therefore make better choices regarding how you manage your priorities.
On the other side, by taking the time to protect your energy, you can access integration phases that are necessary to nourish your creativity in the long run. Through rest and slowing down, you allow the experiences to infuse inside of you, integrating their messages and support the emergence of novel ideas that could stir your business in a new direction.
Energy isn’t just physical, it’s also linked to the mind. This mental energy conditions your reality. To say it differently, the flow of your thoughts structures the way you see reality and how you behave in different situations.
Remember when you’re tired and you feel less patient? Well, this state also impacts the way you judge yourself and the situations. With a low level of energy, you loose your ability to see the stories playing inside of you, and you tend to be more harsh with yourself.
As a freelancer, your mind is useful to help you plan, create strategies, manage your incomes and more. But it is also quite dangerous when it starts to belittle you. The more tired you are, the less capable you’ll be to see your progress and to celebrate yourself.
You become more sensitive to difficulties and your inner Judge take up all the space. Paradoxically, that is exactly when you have less energy that you need support and kindness.
How to change that?
Even though your mind is a central element of the way you build your world, you can turn down its judge voice. By understanding your functioning and your level of energy, you can choose which tasks you do to support yourself, even when you’re tired.
This allows you to recharge your batteries and your self-esteem! Your ability to bounce back is bigger: you are more creative in the way you respond to “problems”. Constraints become opportunities rather than obstacles.
Just like you being tired influence the way you look at the world, it will influence your behaviour towards others. When you lack energy, you tend to listen less to what others need, because you can’t even support your own needs. This can create tensions and misunderstandings, which in turns can lead to conflicts, which drains your energy!
Understanding this is of the utmost importance when you are in a service-based business, where you have meet your clients often.
The energy you project will impact the behaviour of your clients. Due to what we call mirror neurons, if you shine bright with enthusiasm, your clients will also smile, whereas, when you feel tense and irritated, they will also be on edge and conversations may be difficult.
By taking the time to support your energy, you create a different dynamic in your relationships. You have space to listen those who need you, and you can adjust you help with more finesse.
The more you feel confident and well, the easier it is to interact with your clients, even those who are difficult. I’m sure this is important to you —serving your clients well— but if you don’t respect your energy, you’ll do a lesser job and may end up feeling quite guilty and low.
So, try to understand your energy a bit better, and what nourishes you. I guarantee you will create deep and meaningful relationships with your clients in no time.
To conclude this discussion (for now), I would like to highlight something: being tired is not your fault!
Not taking care of one’s energy is a systemic issue. What do I mean by that? We live in a society where work is a central value, which defines both your own worth and your social status. But it is still quite new, and it is not at all representative of how humans function.
So, while you don’t need to burden yourself with the fact that you do live in this kind of work work work society, you still have one responsibility. Once you observe and pay attention to your energy and what drains it, you have the responsibility to choose what to do next. You can either stay in this hustle culture or take one small step towards regaining balance in your life.
Do you feel the need to take better care of your energy to thrive in your business and life? First step is to determine your Energy Type.
Credits: Honka Reznik via Unsplash
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