Inner Reflection to Manage Energy
My energy level is something I am intentional on paying attention to and this week I noticed I felt more drained than normal. This hasn’t always been the case. This was something I didn't pay attention to because I was so focused on everything, and everyone before myself. This created a lot of dissatisfaction in my life. I would try to feel better by getting extra sleep, re-evaluation my eating and health habits, and scheduling time with friends to grab a drink and vent. This would help but it would help me temporarily and would feel drained and exhausted again. It was a cycle I didn’t know how to break. What I have learned is I needed to prioritize myself so I could feel more energized. I had thought if I could just take care of the things first I could have more time for myself later. This was a lie and why I couldn’t break out of this cycle. The truth is when I took time for this inner reflection it helped me feel energized. It helped me take care of myself which in turn helped me show up better for those I love, and have more joy and peace in life.
It’s why it was important for me to create a spiritual practice for myself in the morning and take time for this Inner reflection. It helped me recognize what was really draining my energy. One way I do this inner reflection is by journaling around these questions.
What were the situations or people in my day that drained my energy.
What were the emotions, thoughts, that come up around areas I felt triggered.
As I reflected on a particular day this week I noticed how I had been triggered by a situation with work. I had some anger come up about a situation that I look back on now and it was draining me. The situation was mirroring back to me some old beliefs that were draining my energy and I was holding onto anger because I wanted to prove I was right in the situation. I felt like the person was blaming me and I wanted to prove I didn’t do anything wrong in the situation. I had a choice and the opportunity to do some inner reflection and grow. I had a choice to work through my emotions around this or I could continue to hold on to my anger and feel right.
I choose to let go of the anger and focus on what the lesson the situation was trying to teach me.
I needed to process what I was feeling though and here are a few things I did to process them.
Allowed myself to fully feel the anger and moved it through my body instead of trying to ignore it to fix the situation.
Listen to the story about what the anger was trying to tell me by journaling and writing out how I felt. (I scribbled so hard it put a hole in the page)
I reflected on the thoughts, feelings, actions that showed up.
Taking this time of inner reflection and my process allowed me to recognize a pattern and belief that was an old thought that was showing up for me. This belief I held was me trying to prove myself and being right. This need to prove myself and acknowledgement of being right was draining my energy.
As I reflected I noticed old actions/thoughts showing up which were clues for me and recognizing what energy I was in when doing these things. I was in an energy of trying to prove myself and I wanted to feel acknowledged for my work.
Here were some things that showed up:
Pushing myself through projects when I was tired.
Not taking the time to recharge my energy in the day by taking lunch or stopping for breaks.
Responding quickly to people with messages
Multitasking to try and get my to-do list done which come on is it ever done lol… (PS I have a tip on making your to-do list easier ask me how)
Complaining and wanting to be validated
Relaxing by pouring that EXTRA glass of wine
I was feeling anger and not allowing myself to process it. I was holding onto it and it was showing up with my actions in my day.
These things showing up were a reminder to myself to get back to taking care of myself and not having to prove myself. I have done a lot of work around this area of my life and instead of proving myself I reminded myself I get to trust myself and take care of my needs.
This inner reflection and processing allowed me to recognize how I was draining my energy by feeling like I needed to prove myself in this situation and the need to feel acknowledged for my work.
What It also allowed me to do is instead of needing to prove myself I reminded myself I get to TRUST myself. I acknowledged that I am good at what I do and I care about doing a good job. This is a different energy!
Instead of giving my power away and feeling drained with proving myself. I was able to take my power back and feel re-energized by reminding myself to trust myself and acknowledge who I am.
I could respond back with this trust and confidence in my work and my abilities. I was able to refocus on recharging myself in my day and take care of myself and honor my boundaries I set in my calendar to help me take breaks. I was able to be more open and take the focus off of proving myself and focus on making the experience better for the client. I was able to drop the anger and feel energized.
This inner reflection is what helps me manage my energy and have more peace and joy and energy in my life.
If you are looking at how to have more peace, joy and energy reach out. Let’s have a conversation.
