IS YOUR WELL DEEP OR DEPLETED?

With the scarcity of water in the city, many real estate owners have been left with no choice but to sink bore-holes to supplement the supply of water to their customers. In the rural areas and in the ancient days wells were a common source of water for many communities. The deeper the well the better was the water supply. Our energy levels are like a well, the deeper they are the healthier is our lives after all water is life, and the better our lives the more productive are both at a personal and professional level.

Several years ago I was not a nice person to be around as far as my wife and kids were concerned. I was very impatient and always angry at home. Every evening I got home exhausted and was of no earthly benefit to my family. I was totally disengaged, reactive and very negative. At my place of work things were just routine, I didn’t have a vision and was simply going through the motions at my work place. Things that used to excite me no longer did. What I didn't’ realize was that I was experiencing a burn-out.

According to Professional Certified Coach (PCC) Delaney Tosh, when our energy outputs exceeds our energy inputs, we can become chronically exhausted. This leads to impatience and reactivity at work, and a lack of energy for the second shift at home and family life. In other words what Delaney is saying is that we cease from being effective both at work and at home. Our output at work is greatly affected and there’s a lot of strain in our marriage and relationship with our kids. Delaney goes ahead to state that our thoughts, behaviors and emotions all have an energy consequence which can be negative or positive, depleting or renewing. Various demands of life requires your energy thus drawing down what she calls your “well of resilience”. If you do not have energy habits that refill your well, and if your well is not deep enough, you run the risk of draining your well resulting in a burn-out as I experienced.

Resilience, which is the ability to cope and rebound quickly, is dependent on the balance of our energy renewal versus daily energy drains. It is thus important for each of us in both our professional and personal lives to develop energy renewal habits and be aware of our daily energy drains. Even our Savior Jesus Christ Himself knew this that’s why after a busy energy sapping day meeting the needs of the multitudes, could often times draw away from the crowds to re-energize. How we do that may differ from person to person, for example introverts like me are energized by pulling away from the crowds and spending time alone while an extrovert is re-energized by being with others. One of the ways we can re-energize is by having good sleeping habits, doing some physical exercises, recreating by doing a road trip, reading a book or watching a nice movie, and yes by silencing your inner critic as well.