protect your power, build your resilience
choosing the radiators and ditching the drains
Hello love,
Last month, Catherine Grindrod Dean joined us to share what real resilience means beyond the clichés and quick fixes, and how we can all build it with patience and self-compassion. If you’ve missed her guest post, you can find it right here:
This month, she’s back with another powerful topic: protecting our energy. Because resilience isn’t just about “bouncing back”; it’s about knowing how to fill our own cups and avoid the drains that can leave us feeling depleted and off-balance.
In Catherine’s words, real resilience means learning to manage our energy with intention. And this resonates so much with what I teach in my Flow Into Balance masterclass, where we dive deep in the reasons why as sensitive and ambitious women, we often feel exhausted, drained and fed up with running our business and life as if we were running in a hamster wheel.
In this article, Catherine reveals how we can nurture that precious energy we have and build a strong foundation for resilience in and out of business. Enjoy Catherine’s insights and may they inspire you to protect your power with love and intention!
How do we create resilience?
Last month we talked about what real resilience is and the personality traits of resilient people. Building resilience is crucial if we are to achieve our health goals and stop ourselves from taking on too much, getting overwhelmed and eventually becoming burnt out.
So, we know what resilience is, but how do we create it?
One thing we need to do? Learn to protect our power. And the power we’re talking about here is our energy; quite literally the amount of physical, mental, and emotional power we have.
Have you ever been out for a coffee with a good friend and left with a spring in your step? Feeling content, supported and full of positivity? Or had to work with a colleague that literally drains all the energy out of you with their constant complaining or criticism? The kind of person that makes you dread going into the office and has you so fed up of listening to them drone on and on, that you daydream about getting a new job?
When you’re full of energy and your battery is fully charged, you’re gonna feel strong, confident and like you can take on the many challenges life will inevitably throw at you. The more power you have, the more resilient you’ll be.
And, of course, the opposite is true: when your battery is depleted and your energy levels are low, it’ll be harder to show up and you’re likely to feel more sensitive and vulnerable making it harder to keep spinning those plates with confidence and composure.
Take control of your power
Real resilience, when we are able to feel truly powerful, comes from taking care of your body and mind. It’s easier said than done, but if we can prioritise managing our energy levels and optimise our power, we’ll be able to feel strong, and ready to deal with anything life throws at you. And there’s always something.
Last month we talked about how our levels of resilience aren’t fixed and this is exactly how we start to build more resilience: by generating as much energy as possible and limiting the amount of power that we let drain away.
Think of it like a power piggy bank. You know those little ceramic or plastic pigs you put spare money in when you were a kid? It’s exactly like that. When you take proper care of yourself and truly nourish yourself, you build up a stash of energy, ready for when you need it most. If you fritter all your spare change away on frivolous or meaningless things, you won’t have anything saved for a rainy day, like when things get tough and you really need to dig deep? Your power bank will be depleted and this is, often, when we have no choice but to keep going despite not have anything left. That’s how we start sliding back down that slippery slope to burn out
Just like saving for a rainy day, we should aim to manage our energy in a way that regularly creates a surplus. Just like putting some loose change in your piggy bank as you empty your pockets at the end of the day, little by little it builds up. This gives you that reassurance that, when you need it most, you have a healthy supply to withdraw from that won’t leave you feeling overdrawn and depleted.
Radiators and drains
So, breaking it down, building real resilience comes down to how we manage our energy. And one of the simplest ways to do this is to use the theory of radiators and drains.
I love this approach because I love any concept that is simple to understand and implement but has a poignant and profound impact.
Have you heard the phrase, “stay close to those people that feel like sunshine?” Those people, the friend that always remembers important events, the work colleague that brings you a morning coffee and values your opinions or the neighbour that puts your bin out for you? They are all radiators. People that care, have a positive outlook, they make you feel safe, supported and secure. Spending time with them leaves you feeling positive, uplifted and inspired.
Drains on the other hand? They’re the friends that spend the whole ‘phone call, every time you speak to them moaning about how much harder things are for them or the colleagues that talk over you in meetings and steal your ideas but take full credit. In short, the people that leave you feeling fed up, infuriated and frustrated. They’re exhausting to be around and drain you of your power.
In an ideal world, we’d surround ourselves with radiators and cut all the drains out of our lives, but in the real world it’s not so easy. We all have family members, work colleagues and neighbours that we may not choose, yet have to tolerate. What we can do is spend more of our time with the people in our lives that radiate positivity and as little as possible with the drains. This is not about burying our heads in the sand and never mixing with negative people, it’s about taking control of what we can control and learning to fiercely protect our power.
The theory of radiators and drains applies to people, but we can easily extend it to many other things in life that affect our energy levels. The food we eat, the way we spend our time and our environment are just some of the things that can affect our energy levels.
Some examples of radiators (things that will give you energy)
Spending time in nature
Exercise
Yoga
Meditation
Spending time with pets
Music
Healthy food
Laughter
A good night’s sleep
Drinking enough water
Sunlight
Examples of drains (things that will deplete your energy):
Dehydration
Too much processed foods
High levels of stress
High sugar intake
Alcohol
Lack of movement
Excessive social media scrolling
Sedentary lifestyle
High screen time
Spending a lot of time indoors
Most of us can feel much more energised just by making some basic changes.
One great way to do this is to identify your main radiators and drains. Once you’ve done this you can work to systematically build more energising people, foods and activities into your life while weeding out those things that cause you to feel drained.
We can do this by asking ourselves the following questions
Who or what makes me feel energised?
What environments make me feel energised?
Write out a list of all of your radiators, the things that give you energy. Once you have this list, ask yourself: What specific actions can I take to increase my energy levels?
Once you’ve done this, turn your attention to those things that are draining your energy. Ask yourself: Where am I losing the most energy? What is causing me to feel drained? Physically, emotionally and spiritually? Write a list of all the things that drain you of energy.
Once you’ve done this, spend some time answering the following question: What specific action can I take to reduce the drains on my energy?
Learning to feel healthy, energised and motivated while also reducing overwhelm and confusion is the secret to building true resilience and preventing burnout. Keep in mind your power piggy bank and regularly take small, simple steps to keep topping up your balance and make sure to spend your balance wisely.
Identifying the radiators and drains in your life and making the necessary changes to adjust the balance is a great start on the journey to becoming more resilient.
I’ll be back next month to talk about how learning to live in the moment and being more present can help us to move closer to true resilience and further away from burnout.
Catherine
NUTRITION COACH
Helping busy, professional women 30+ feel healthy & energised by learning to nourish themselves and stop punishing themselves - https://www.instagram.com/catherinedeancoaching/
I love how simple and powerful this tip is, and we often speak about it with my clients who all need help in this area.
Not so much because they lack energy, but because they don’t understand why they lack energy. They are often worried that there might be something wrong with their health, when often it’s simply a question of rebalancing their life. Because as soon as we start looking into what they consume in a day (not just food!), who they spent time with, how much movement they allow themselves to have, how to they take care of themselves vs. how they take care of others, and how they let unhelpful thoughts clutter their mind and dim their inner light…. the conclusions are quite self-explanatory.
The concept of looking at energy like a manageable resource, something you can produce, store and spend, is I believe very useful. It helps you reconnect to the power you have to actually make a change, and reclaim your life so you can fill it with the things that matter to you.
What about you?
What are your energy drains and your energy radiators? How can you make sure you fill in your piggy bank with the right kind in your life?
Tell us in a comment!
Until then, we wish you a beautiful week. Remember to sparkle joy and laughter in your days, regardless of what’s going on, on a global and personal level.
Power and light,
Jessica