With the start of our new Energised Leader series, we thought it would be a good chance to tell you a little more about us, what makes us tick, and what we’ve learned about our own personal energy over the years.

I (Angie) have a few questions lined up for Shane and I’ll share my perspective on being part of an energised couple, running a business together and how our own family atmosphere bleeds over into our business.

So let’s dive in!

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Finding the leak in your personal energy

First off, let’s look at how Shane deals with his own personal energy. What drains you the most?

A lack of self-discipline. Having self-discipline is like a base foundation for keeping your house in order. The things that come with that are looking at the constant struggle with yourself around self-worth, around who you are, and around why you're here.

I think they run true for everybody, but it’s how aware you are of these that will determine how crazy they make you. Some people try to avoid them and push them to the side, but I am constantly thinking and doing things that I don’t think anybody else would. If someone else got inside my mind, they would probably run for the hills because it’s so intense!

Well, I’m married to you… Shane is more of an introvert, whereas I (Angie) am more of an extrovert.

These terms - extrovert and introvert - are part of Carl Jung’s personality theory. A lot of people think they're something to do with your outward personality, or the way that you appear. Extroverts at a party are the ones having a good time, and introverts are the shy people that don't want to talk to anyone.

I don't exactly see it like that. I just see it as, if someone is internally focused or someone is externally focused. So it doesn't mean that you, as an introvert, cannot hold a conversation with people, or cannot address large crowds of people. I address large crowds of people all the time.

Would it be safe to say you might get lost in your thinking and that would drain your energy?

Oh, yeah, 100%. The intellectual mind is mightier than the sword. It's a thing that's revered the most in our society right now, and I know what my analytical intellectual mind is like. It's razor sharp, I want it that way. But it can also be an Achilles heel, because you can get stuck in your mind analysing everything, even emotions, which is ridiculous because they’re nonsensical.

They're just energy. It’s interesting because what drains me (Angie) the most is blame. I have a tendency to want to blame somebody else straight away but then I go and blame myself. Then of course, I get lost in analytical thinking, because the more it runs in my mind and I don't shift the energy, or talk to somebody about it, or journal it out, or read a book, the more it drains my energy.

And don’t forget the brain takes up around 25% of your body’s oxygen which actually starts to drain your energy. If you’re an overthinker, it might even be more.

The link between your environment and your energy

Next question: what do you do to speed up recovery to get your energy back if you’re feeling drained?

That is really simple. Sunlight, get on the ground, breathe, get into some cold water, and find stillness in meditation.

Most people don’t realise that your environment and what you do with your body plays a huge part in your energy story.

Both you (Angie) and I have done a great deal of work on our physical environment, on our physical bodies, which keeps our energy high. If you're not a person that takes notice of your physical environment and your body when it comes to your energy, you will probably think that the shit that goes on in your head is twice as bad as it actually could be.

While your mind and your thoughts can be the things that drain you the most, the quickest way to recover is to focus on the physical stuff. Focusing on your body doesn’t require thinking so get out into nature and take time to be silent.

If you're living in western society and you're running a business or have a family, and you have all the normal stressful things like bills to pay, stillness is a real weapon to have up your sleeve. It's a super weapon for you to be able to cultivate stillness. When the surface noise of everything fades, you will get a glimpse into what is really knocking you from the inside.

Breathe in the sun

That's why we use the tagline, breathe in the sun. For me, that's probably the biggest and greatest pattern interrupter in the middle of the busyness of my life - being able to step outside, to see the sun and feel the wind, and feel nature around me.

It provides a healing experience and gives you a different perspective and a different type of energy. Just being in contact with others who have that energy will help you heal when you’re feeling drained of energy.

The energy of happiness isn’t something you can sit in all day long because you’re not a Buddha on a cloud! But you can learn the skills to be able to drop into that space, whatever your job. When you’re happy and successful, it rubs off on everyone else around you. The collective energy for me is to be able to give people access to success and happiness.

A little ray of sunshine will make you feel better. It's all it takes. So if we can create little rays of sunshine within ourselves, and show other people how to do that, it might light up a few.

What you need to understand is that you already have little rays of sunshine in you in your mitochondria - the powerhouse of your cells that produce energy.

That’s why we’re so fanatical about physical health and well-being because you need to look after your mitochondria. They manage the energy in the body but if they're starting to fade away, you need to bring them back to life. It is a physical thing but everything comes down to personal energy.

At the end of the day, if you are not taking care of yourself, your body will end up a miserable lump. That doesn't mean there’s something wrong with the essence - the spark of who you are - but it will have conflict with the vehicle that you're sitting in, your body. Your body will struggle.

Breathe that one in and get in touch to let us know how you keep your personal energy up and whether you agree or disagree with what we’ve said. Send us an e-mail at [email protected].