Be More Energetic

Chapter 60 of the book Self-Help Stuff That Works

by Adam Khan:

ENERGY IS A BEAUTIFUL THING. A person with a lot of energy can accomplish twice what someone without much energy can and have more fun doing it. You get more life with more energy. And here's a way to crank up your engine: Act more energetic. That sounds like shallow, positive-thinking hype, but it's actually based on solid evidence: It works.

When you act more energetic, it stimulates your body. Lying down is relaxing. Moving around is more stimulating. Moving around quickly is even more stimulating. It gets the heart pumping. It puts the mind in gear.

Our biology has evolved to fit a different kind of world than the one in which we now find ourselves. There were plenty of times in our prehistory when food was scarce. People who wantonly used up energy would be the first to die, leaving no offspring. The bodies following the prime directive conserve energy passed their genes to us.

But times have changed. It's no longer difficult to find food. If anything, food is difficult to avoid. Calories are everywhere, hugely and abundantly available. As a matter of fact, now a major concern for people in America is being overweight. Times have changed dramatically. There's no longer any need to conserve energy, but your genes don't know it. They've still got their orders, like a soldier in a jungle who was never told the war is over.

You can be more energetic, but you'll have to override your feelings. And you can do this. You'll have to essentially ignore the natural laziness we all share.

The way to override your body's prime directive is to act energetic whether you feel like it or not.

The truth is, you are energetic when you act that way, regardless of how you feel. Listen to what I'm saying here. You want to be more energetic? By simply acting more energetic, you immediately become more energetic in reality, in the same way that when you act ethical, you are ethical, regardless of whether or not you were tempted to do the wrong thing.

You can become more energetic in ten seconds. Simply start acting more energetic.

You don't have to feel energetic to be energetic. A nice bonus, however, is that often when you act energetic, it will rev you up and make you feel energetic too.

Experiments show that when people walk quickly, it speeds up their metabolism, making them feel more energetic, and this energetic feeling lasts for several hours after the activity. Acting energetic physically changes your body into a more energetic body.

So don't wait until you feel energetic before you act. Act first. The feelings will follow.

Act more energetic.

Would you like to feel more enthusiastic about your work? One way is to act enthusiastic. But there is another, more fundamental principle that can make your work a flow experience more often:
Zoning Out

One of the things that can make us feel tired or listless is small feelings of defeat we get when things don't go the way we expect or when we experience setbacks. Learn how to prevent many of those feelings of defeat:
Optimism

next: Burn Your Own BTUs