[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.
[00:41] I'm really excited to announce that in the upcoming weeks, I am launching my new program to help you to optimize your time and your energy to reach the results and impact you want in your business and in your life. If you want to find out more about my new program, check out thefocusbeat.com program. So far in the Energy series, we've spoken about physical energy with nest and emotional energy, how you manage your emotions. Let's look at mental energy. You might think that mental energy is similar to emotional energy. The way I distinguish these is emotional energy is linked to your emotions, how you feel on a daily basis, where mental energy is related to your mind. These are the thoughts, the intellectual aspect, and it's really linked to how you are managing your day in your mind. If this makes sense, we have both an external world and an internal world. And the external world is everything that's going on around us. And the internal world is everything that's going on inside us, such as the thoughts and emotions. And the external world. We never see it exactly as it is. We only ever see a perception of it because it goes through all our filters. It goes through the filter of our thoughts, of our emotions, of our beliefs, of everything, of our values, of how we feel that day, how tired we are. All of these things will filter how we see the world. And the mental energy is how you see things. And how can you optimize these filters and reframe and change your perspective on things that are going on outside? So if none of this makes sense, it's okay. It's a tricky topic to explain, but once you have the hang of it, you'll really start to notice what I mean. Basically, we believe, most of us, that in order to be happy and energized, we need to shift the external world to suit our preferences. And instead, what has been proven, and this isn't just what I say is we need to shift our internal world and perspective in order to be energized despite or in spite of what's going on externally, or with no link almost to what's going on externally. Let me give you an example. Let's say that you're at work and you have three tight deadlines for tomorrow. And let's say these are very big projects and you're feeling stressed about it. The tendency would be to try and either do it as quickly as possible that day or to try and shift these deadlines. This is pushing the external world to suit what you prefer. And though that might work sometimes you might be able exceptionally to push those deadlines by a week and you think oh, problem solved, I can relax. But there are many many times, one of which is the weather, that you can't just change and shift and push. So in those moments instead it's a matter of shifting your perspective on it. And this might be tricky to explain once more in the example I gave with three deadlines because it would be more interesting to go in specifics but you could, for instance, think okay, I have these three deadlines tomorrow. What's the work I've done so far? What's the best I can deliver in these 24 hours? How will I manage my time around this and start putting these actions in place in order to reach those deadlines as calmly as possible and feeling as good as possible about it? And this is what I mean when I refer to mental energy, this exact example. It's the thoughts you have around it, it's your perspective around it and it's how you deal with this. And this does correlate obviously then with the emotional energy because how you manage your thoughts about it, how you manage your perspective will directly impact the emotions that you will feel. For instance, if you're thinking how can I deliver these projects tomorrow as calmly and as efficiently as possible? And that's your thought process that will lead to an emotion of calmness and composure. But if you think oh my God, I only have one day left to finish all of this, I'll never manage, then it'll lead to an emotion of stress. So the mental energy really comes before in some ways or is directly correlated. How can you shift your perspective? How can you increase your mental energy? One way, as I just illustrated, is by asking yourself powerful questions that guide you in the direction that you'd like to go. Great questions could be what is right in front of me that I need to hear and see right now that can help me with this? Or what are the inner resources that I have that will make the best of this situation? Or who is it that can support me on this? Or what have I achieved in the past that was even harder and more of a struggle and yet I did an awesome job at and looking at your strengths. Asking questions is one great way to shift perspective. Another great way is to think of a role model that you have and ask yourself what would they do in my shoes? Which once more is also asking questions but thinking from their hat. If you know someone who's really really calm and composed and inspiring thinking what would they do? What would they think here? And notice how that shifts your thoughts and then your feelings. You can also look at what would you like to be feeling in this situation. Instead, if you're feeling stress, for instance, as I mentioned, with projects, and you think I'd like to feel instead efficient or calm or driven thinking, what thoughts do I need to have that will support these feelings? What thoughts can you have that will make you feel calm? And when you ask a question, an amazing thing happens in your brain, it really wants to answer it. And when you ask how can I think differently about this? Or what thought would help me now? Your brain would think, well, it would be helpful for me to think that I've already done 90% of the work and therefore there's a much left, for example, and you'll start to shift it. What we're doing here is we're breaking old patterns of thought that are leading constantly to the same types of emotions and creating new patterns of thoughts. And this ties with your mental energy because you'll feel more energized from thinking in a different way. And notice, notice which thoughts drain you, which thoughts are you constantly having that don't support your well being, your fulfillment, your productivity, your performance, your joy? And which thoughts have you had in the past in similar situations that made you feel great? What have you heard someone say in a similar situation and thought wow, I never thought that way. Can you maybe pinch that thought or steal that thought? I remember once talking with a friend who said that when it was raining, they really loved running in the rain. I remember thinking, wow, I didn't know you could love running in the rain because I never enjoyed it particularly. And then every time it rained and if I was going for a walk or a run, I'd remember her and think, some people really love it, there must be something really enjoyable about it. And trying to shift my perspective and the way I looked at the weather and see, she mentioned the smell of the rain was great, or the feeling, and just by thinking what is there that is so enjoyable here that I haven't seen before or I haven't noticed, will support you to see it in a different light. So I hope all of this makes sense. It's directly linked to your emotional energy, to how you deal with your emotions. And it's looking at what are your thoughts, which ones are taking and draining all your energy, that thought that you have, that you're always stressed or you don't have enough time, or things are so busy, how can you shift it? What can you ask yourself to shift that thought? What can you say that will make you think differently about it? And once you've worked on this, you'll notice that you are able to shift the external world because you have become able to shift the internal world and things will begin to change, to transform, to move externally. Because you've managed it internally. You need to experience it to know what I'm talking about. And if you have, you'll recognize it for sure. Thank you for tuning in today. I hope you enjoyed today's episode on Mental Energy. It's a topic I'm very passionate about. Managing your thoughts is a huge part of self leadership and it makes such a difference. If you've enjoyed today's episode and you haven't done yet, please take a moment to write a review. It means so much to me and it helps other people to find the show. So thank you in advance. Wishing you a great day and see you in the next episode.
[11:49] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee Show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, so let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.