#486 Gasoline: Used not saved

What if the fuel you’re saving for “someday” is the very thing keeping you stuck today? We take a simple gas can and turn it into a tough love mirror: potential doesn’t move the car, burned energy does. Through tight storytelling and sharp prompts, we break down why storing your best ideas, courage, and attention feels safe but quietly erodes momentum—and how small, timely burns create real growth you can see.

We explore three risks of idle fuel that map directly to life and leadership. Evaporation shows up as fading urgency and diluted clarity. Separation turns once-great plans into stale mixtures that no longer ignite. And heat risk is the creeping volatility of delayed decisions that become crises. Instead of hoarding energy or waiting for perfect conditions, we show how to pour just enough fuel into the engine: define the smallest meaningful action, time-box your effort, ship something visible, and use feedback as your compass.

If you’ve been parking energy in a shed labeled “later,” this is your nudge to take the cap off. Pick one area—career move, team decision, creative project, important conversation—and commit to a concrete next step before the day ends. We’re rooting for you to spend your energy where it counts and to refuel with intention, not fear. If you want a second set of eyes on your plan or need help turning potential into motion, reach out. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s ready to move, and leave a quick review to tell us what fuel you’re burning next.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Framing The Fuel Metaphor
• 0:16 Gasoline As A Lesson On Energy
• 0:59 Three Risks Of Idle Fuel
• 1:23 Apply The Insight To Your Life
• 2:01 Invitation To Take Action

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to message 486 of the Growth Instigators Hotline where we examine an everyday normal object and assign it a deeper meaning. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. What can gasoline remind us of today? Gasoline is meant to be consumed. Fuel sitting in a can doesn't move anything. Growth only happens when energy is used, not saved for someday. I have a few of the plastic red one gallon carriers in my shed. Two of them I had to purchase from a gas station when I ran out of gas in my car. That's for another story. But for today, let's address the gasoline that has just been sitting in my shed. Now I'm not a petroleum engineer or a chemical scientist. I don't have a degree in how this stuff works. So I don't know the validity of the next couple thoughts I have. But let me give you three thoughts. One, is vaporation just consuming the fuel in my cans without my permission? I wonder. Number two, can gasoline sit long enough for the particles to separate and render it useless? Water down bad gas? And the third thought I have is do I have a ticking time bomb if the heat gets too high? That one I'm pretty certain of. So for the sake of this topic, I'll restate my thesis statement. Growth only happens when energy is used, not saved for someday. Where in your life or leadership are you storing up potential? Not bad if it's calculated and planned. It could be bad if you're just putting it in the shed and holding energy for some possible future date, maybe down the road. Don't pick this analogy apart too much. I'm just posing the question: where in your life today can you take the cap off of that container and start using that stored up energy? Hey, if you need help going for it in your life or leadership, I can help. Your life is too valuable to just coast along. Sometimes we just need another set of ears or eyes on something to help growth happen. Shoot me a text or send me an email at Aaron at Growth Instigators.com if that is you. Here's to not holding back today. Here's to growth.