Transform Your Life - Just Count Me In

#16 What Do You Give Your Energy To?

• Sari Stone • Season 1 • Episode 16

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Ever feel like you're constantly running out of time despite your best scheduling efforts? The solution might not be another productivity hack, but a complete reframe of what you're managing. 

In this illuminating episode, we explore why energy management trumps time management every time. Drawing from my experiences coaching high school seniors and my personal journey of breaking free from perpetual busyness, I share how our focus on time often misses the deeper issue—where we're directing our precious energy.

Bruce Lipton's groundbreaking work in epigenetics confirms what many of us feel intuitively: our energetic focus shapes not just our emotions but our actual biology. That's why you can have someone accomplishing little yet feeling completely drained, while another person juggles multiple commitments and remains energized. The difference lies in energy alignment, not time allocation.

Throughout the episode, I offer practical guidance for conducting your own "energy audit" to identify where your energy flows, leaks, or gets depleted. You'll learn to recognize when something is genuinely lighting you up versus burning you out, and how to create from a place of presence rather than pressure. I also share powerful affirmations from my clients that can help you protect your energetic boundaries.

Your emotions are your guidance system—if something feels good, you're aligned; if it feels heavy, you're out of alignment. By becoming conscious of what you choose to amplify, you become an active co-creator with the universe rather than a victim of circumstance. Ready to transform your relationship with time by focusing on energy instead? Listen now and take the first step toward reclaiming both your energy and your time.

Thank you for joining me!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Just Count Me In, a podcast about coming home to yourself and finding your expression, figuring out who exactly you came here to be, also known as living your best life. I'm Sari Stone and I'll be your host. Welcome, welcome back and welcome to Transform your Life. Just Count Me In. I'm so glad that you're here. I have had the greatest week. I've got a lot of people I'm coaching and currently five of them are high school seniors and it just so happened I've never had so many seniors in one year and it is just such an exciting time for them.

Speaker 1:

And we talk a lot about time management would be the buzzword and realized it's really more about energy management. So let's be honest Whatever gives you energy, whether it's your relationships, your commitments, your activities those things really shape how you feel and how you feel about your time. So people are often asking me how can I manage my time better? Or can you please work with my kids to help me manage their time better? I used to ask that same question. The deeper question I've realized the more I dug into this myself is how do we manage our energy better? Energy and this is a mind shift is more precious than time. I had to stop and let this in. You can have all the time in the world, but if your energy is drained, if you're distracted or you misdirect your energy, that time doesn't mean anything.

Speaker 1:

So Bruce Lipton he was a pioneer in epigenetics reminds us that our beliefs, our energetic focus, don't just shape our feelings, but they actually shape their biology. His book Biology of Beliefs I got years ago ago and it just it blew my mind when I read it. And it's true the energy that that we give to stress, to fear, to guilt, to being over committed, doesn't just exhaust you emotionally. It exhausts you physically and it shapes your DNA. That's why you can have somebody who apparently is not accomplishing much in their life be completely mentally tapped and exhausted and somebody who's super busy feel great and feel energized. At the end of the day, it's where you're directing your energy.

Speaker 1:

So ask yourself am I energized or depleted after spending time with that person or doing that activity? Do I feel clearer or more confused after I scroll on my social media feed? Is this project, is this idea lighting me up or burning me out? Is this idea lighting me up or burning me out? And sometimes we just need a break, we just need a small time out from a project or from a person or from a commitment. Sometimes we need to just let it go and come up with something else. So this is not about bypassing difficult emotions. I just want to say this before I go into this section it is more about becoming conscious of what we choose to amplify. So I'm going to say that again this is not going to be about bypassing hard emotions. It's more about becoming conscious about what we choose to amplify, because we are always co-creating with the universe.

Speaker 1:

If I feel like hearing pink, I'm not going to click on the country flight playlist on my phone. It's not going to be on the same playlist. I'm in the mood for something, I want something, I need to feel that and I need to choose that and this. We know there were years I walked around saying I never have enough time. I need, I need one more day in this week, I need one more hour in this day. It was very common to hear me say something like that. Guess what? That became my reality.

Speaker 1:

And if I kept saying I'm overwhelmed, I was just more overwhelmed and I noticed, like I'm digging myself deeper, what am I doing? What's wrong here? Wrong here. So I started realizing that things were at one end of the spectrum or the other, which is sort of also what I've done with my clients with the gradient method that we talked about and it's at one end. Are things that light me up? At one end are things that I feel really good and I get great energy from, or thoughts or songs, or people, or foods or places or activities or commitments. Okay, at the other end are the energy sucks and I ask myself constantly what? How do I feel after I'm, after I spend time doing this? Do I feel clearer or do I feel exhausted? Am I lit up or am I burnt out? How do I feel most days, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually? And then look, take a look at where your energy is going. I had a lot of scattered energy. I'm one of those people that just it was all over the place and I'm a connector. I see a lot of things at the same time. So I've got to intentionally focus my energy and make sure it's not leaking into worry, make sure it's not leaking into comparing myself to somebody else or just this endless busyness, and I try my best to direct my energy into what brings me joy, clarity and purpose, like if it makes me happy, I do it. We're not the victims of our circumstances, we're the co-creators of our experience, and that begins with the awareness of where we give our energy. No-transcript, maybe. Protect your peace like it's sacred.

Speaker 1:

How might you feel to say no to things that are not aligned, that don't feel in alignment with your purpose, and can you let go of the guilt for resting, which is a big one even among kids? They'll, almost apologetically, say to me you know, I didn't practice today because I was too tired and I thought why are you apologizing for being tired? Well, why are they? Why do I? Why do you? Because we've lived in a society for a while and it's not working for us, where it hasn't been okay to be tired, it hasn't been okay to take a day off. I mean, we talk about taking a day of rest. Thank goodness it's becoming more and more popular now to take a little bit of a Sabbath and try to unplug from things and have a 24-hour period where really, when I was growing up, it was a two-day period, not a one-day period. My parents didn't do a lot on the weekend. I mean, we did fun things, but they didn't work on the weekend the way we do now.

Speaker 1:

So part of that is just locating where you're leaking your energy and what you're saying to yourself. What you're saying to yourself is really important. Time management is just such a hot topic, but I think what we need isn't necessarily more scheduling. I think it's more alignment. So here's the truth, and it may be hard to hear. It's hard for me even to do this episode, to be honest with you, because it's a pushback even when I'm coaching, partly because I still push back on some of it, but I enjoy it. I enjoy it because it creates expansion and I do believe that we're here to expand.

Speaker 1:

So the truth is, you can't manage your time if you don't manage your energy. You can plan your day down to the dang minute, but if you're giving your energy to drama, to distraction, to doubt, you're going to feel behind and burned out. So ask yourself what are the top three things in my life right now that actually get most of my energy? Things in my life right now that actually get most of my energy? And the bigger question are they aligned with who I want to be? And you can tell, because either they're feeding you or they are depleting you.

Speaker 1:

It's not about doing more. It's about doing what matters most from a place of presence, not pressure, and I have that written down on a post-it Presence, not pressure. Because I was raised, as a lot of you might have been, that pressure was a good thing. Pressure was what motivates people. Pressure is what gets it done. Honestly, it's not. It just creates stress and stress is not the way to get things done. Okay, a little bit of healthy stress. A little bit of healthy tension, that's okay. Tension is normal. A little bit of healthy tension, that's okay. Tension is normal. But to create you're not going to create out of a place of stress. You're going to create, do your best creation out of a place of presence.

Speaker 1:

So think about it. What are the top three things? And here's your journal prompts. I'm sorry, I should have said that first what are the top three things I give most of my energy to daily? Which of these give me energy back and which drain me and which drain me? What's one area of my life where I'm ready to set a boundary, an energetic boundary? How does my body feel when I say yes to something I really want? What emotions am I feeling when I say yes to what I really want. What emotions am I feeling when I say yes to what I really want? How does my body feel when I say no to something I really don't want to do? Which emotions am I actually? Ready to stop fueling, actually ready to stop fueling? You are an energy being. Your emotions are your guidance system. They are your navigation system. If something feels good, it means you're aligned. If it feels heavy, it means you're out of alignment. It's about how your energy is dispersed.

Speaker 1:

So, instead of filling every nook and cranny of your day, maybe consider scheduling some time for things that recharge you, and you can make a list. I have my clients make a list things that charge me, things that lift me up. I have my clients make a list things that charge me, things that lift me up and things that drain me, to make sure I'm avoiding those. You can, honestly, spend a lot of time doing this or a time doing this and get a big result. It just depends on how quickly you become aware of things. So here's your invitation. Here are these affirmations and, please, if you come up with some affirmations on your own, which I think you can, I would love it. Love it if you messaged me through Instagram and shared them with me, or messaged me through Facebook, or messaged me and asked for an invite to join the Facebook group. Just count me in. I would love to have you in there. I'd love to have some vocal people in there. So here are some affirmations.

Speaker 1:

I am mindful of where I place my energy, and some of these my students actually wrote. I honor my energy by giving it to what uplifts and inspires me. It's safe for me to say no to what isn't good for me. I align my energy with joy, clarity and purpose. I'm letting go of the need to please and I'm reclaiming the right to be. This was from a high school junior. Actually, do I not work with the most incredible people? And the last one? I choose alignment over obligation. So here's your invitation.

Speaker 1:

If you've ever been in a place where you feel like you don't have enough time and I've been in it I've been there. Okay, even after I left the 40, which was actually 60 hour a week job and went into business for myself, one would think we didn't recreate the same pattern of busyness and of overbooking and of just anxiety about things I did. Initially it was great and I never looked back. But part of that great came out of the struggle of oh my gosh, I still feel like I don't have enough time, like what's going on, what am I doing wrong here? And it was because I realized where I was actually giving my energy. I did like an audit for energy. I audited my energy.

Speaker 1:

So I want you to take an inventory audit your energy this week and you can use this time to remember that your energy is your essence and when you protect it and align it even just listening to this podcast episode, you are bringing awareness to that place in you that is probably lighting up right now like, oh, thank you for listening to me, thank you for hearing me. I've been trying to get your attention. So if this episode spoke to your heart, share it with someone who needs a reminder that they have this power to choose to where their energy goes. And if you'd like support in refining your alignment or developing more intuitive, time-conscious flow in your life, I would love to be a part of that. That's why I'm here. This is what I do. Let's see how we can work together to make this happen for you, so that you can feel that your energy is going in the direction towards your highest and greatest good and most joyful life, and feel and know that you have enough time.

Speaker 1:

So until the next time, thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you like this episode, please let me know. Stop by at social media, on Instagram or my Facebook page. Just count me in and please leave a comment. If there's anybody that you think could benefit from this episode, please forward it to them, and I look forward to seeing you next time. We're all in this together, thank you.