Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
1, Instead of focusing on resolutions, create a habit or two. Drinking more water, getting movement or reading daily are all positive changes you can make in just a few weeks.
2, Science shows that it takes 21 days to create a habit. Create a calendar and, after three weeks, celebrate knowing that you now have something built into your daily routine that will create energy.
3, Schedule self-reflection time. That’s where growth comes from. When we reflect on the past and examine our successes and failures we create new ideas for the future.
4, In order for you to change, you need to change the people and places you are investing your energy. This doesn’t mean stop hanging out with friends or family. But once a year do an energy audit and organize some time around what fuels you.
As 2024 begins, it’s time to reflect, refresh and plan for the upcoming year. While many of us can feel the renewed energy around the holidays, we often start the new year with lower energy. For many of us, January feels like a slog, a slow burn of our energy, as we face the upcoming few months of winter.
The reason New Year’s resolutions were created was to give you goals that would energize you to start the year strong and confident that this year will be different, better, in some way. The problem is that resolutions don’t usually work for most of us, at least beyond the second week of January.
As we start a new year, here are a few tips to shift your focus to better managing your own energy levels.
1. The no-resolution solution
As you start the new year, instead of focusing on a resolution consisting of something that will last for just a few weeks, instead create a habit or two. Things like drinking 80 ounces of water a day, getting some type of movement everyday or spending 30 minutes reading daily.
Create a calendar and mark off each day you complete your task. Science shows that it takes 21 days to create a habit so if you can stick to it for that period of time, you can celebrate knowing that you now have something built into your daily routine that will help you better manage your energy.
2. Schedule self-reflection
As you end the year, do yourself a favor and build in reflection time. It could be an hour or two over the holidays or at the beginning of the year. Block it out on your calendar and grab a piece of paper, a journal or your computer and reflect on what you’ve learned.
Self-reflection is where our growth comes from. When we reflect on the past and examine our successes and failures, we create new perspectives and ideas for the future. Here are a few questions to get you started during your scheduled reflection time.
What’s one thing I learned about myself this year that I want to continue working on?
What was my biggest accomplishment in the past year?
What is the biggest challenge I want to overcome in the upcoming year?
What is one action that I can take now to overcome that challenge?
3. Do an energy audit
Sometimes the greatest impacts on our energy are the people and places that we are spending the most time. We continue on auto pilot, going to the same events, spending time with the same people, listening to the same noise.
It’s no wonder many of us feel stuck in the same place year over year. In order for you to change, you need to change the people and places you are investing your energy in. Now, this doesn’t mean you stop hanging out with your family or close friends. It means that once a year you do an energy audit – what gives you the most energy and what does not?
Maybe coaching that soccer team energized you, but sitting on that non-profit board did not. Or being a part of that committee at work was super energizing, but being part of the PTA at your kids’ school was not.
Take real inventory of what gives you energy and what doesn’t and then politely excuse yourself from the things that do not. Every time you say yes to something that doesn’t energize you means you say no to managing your own energy levels.
4. Create your own energy action plan
Now that you’ve done the self-reflection and you have an idea about what gives you energy and what sucks energy from you, create your simple action plan. There are two tricks to accomplishing your goals — write them down and tell someone else.
Don’t let all of that reflection and energy you have built up fizzle out and go to waste; put it into action. You don’t have to know how to accomplish it, just start. Here are a couple of questions that can help you create your energy action plan.
What are two areas where I want to increase my energy in the new year?
What is one thing that I want to stop doing that negatively impacts my energy?
Who am I going to share my plan with so they can hold me accountable?
What additional support or accountability do I need in order to ensure I can be successful with my personal energy action plan?
You read this article because something about the topic resonated with you. You are tired, you want things to be better, to feel better. You want the new year to be a fresh start with new energy. So, the question is, what are you willing to do to truly make this year the best one ever?
Only about 10 percent of people that read this will actually take the advice and do something with it. The rest of us will make excuses — great idea, but I don’t have time for this right now, maybe I’ll think about doing this next week when things are less crazy, or I’m fine, I’ll just keep pushing through and hope that something magically changes.
Wherever you are, just know that you are 100 percent in control of your own energy and where you choose to give and receive your energy from. Let’s all take back that control and make the new year the best one yet. It’s time we become the Chief Energy Officers of our own lives!
