Perspectives
Seeing the world around us
on energy
Energy is an interesting thing.
It can’t be seen.
It can’t be felt.
But it can be lost, gained, wasted, and invested.
I used to sell knives. Lots of them. Over $33 thousand worth. And one day, I quit. I was tired of the job. Or, to put it more correctly, I was tired because of the job.
You see, selling takes a ton of energy. You have to set appointments. Drive to the appointments. Perform your presentation. haggle. get rejected. drive to the next appointment. start over.
Now when it was good, it was very good. But the energy I spent was much less than any reward gained.
They told me in training that people buy because the perceived value is higher than the cost. For me, value (earnings) was NOT higher than the cost (energy), so I quit buying.
Now, do I spend as much energy writing and researching and creating content as I did selling knives? No. I spend more. MUCH more.
But I’ve discovered a very curious thing. I have discovered that if you are forcing energy to a place where, deep down, you do not want that energy to go, you will lose so much of that energy. That’s what happened to me with the knife selling gig.
I call it energy displacement, and it’s not a good thing. Energy has a natural direction and flow, much like a river. Going against that flow is rarely a good idea. If you’ve ever tried to swim upstream, you probably know what I’m talking about.
But if we put the energy in the places it wants to go, we can truly harness it and do great things. Just think about what would have happened if Albert Einstein had applied his energy to something like painting or writing fiction. Could he have been great? Of course. Anyone can do anything they want to do.
But would that greatness have been at the same level as his work in physics?
All I’m saying is that when you can put energy where it’s supposed to be, great things can happen.
So next time you find yourself exhausted by something you’re putting a lot of energy into, take a second look. Is that really where that energy needs to be spent?
Great blog Rod. I think a lot of people try to put the least amount of effort into something and reap the most from it. While there isn’t anything wrong with this, I think it’s much better to find something that you truly enjoy doing. When you find that, there is little, if any wasted energy or effort. Good luck on your future endeavors, and I’ll be tuning in from now on to see what you’re up to over here.
enjoyed this Rod