I spent years ignoring and rebelling against my personal energy cycle. I only wanted to be at my best, meaning super productive, always on the go and got stuck in overachieving patterns dictated by patriarchy & capitalism.
Even when I turned anti-capitalist, I kept running after busy-ness, lured by a limiting and simple story: busy is good! Busy means that I am important and valuable. I was living for the highs.
As a result, each time that I was feeling lower, I was freaking out. I was going straight into panic mode wondering what was wrong with me. Can you relate to this? I am pretty sure that as a changemaker you know that feeling!
There is hope though! Now I rarely panic anymore because I know that I am ressourced and empowered enough to overcome the lows and the discomfort that comes with it.
What’s An Energy Cycle?
Circadian rhythms and menstrual cycles are popular examples of natural cycles.
The personal energy cycle is the inherent natural rhythm of oneself, composed of two energy levels (two phases) that follow one another.
Your energy cycle presents highs and lows, that you can also call ups and downs. Both phases of the cycle are ok, natural, productive in their own way and most importantly, they always alternate when you fully accept them.
Everyone has its own natural energy cycle and it’s critical to figure out what it looks like, so you can make the most of it and enjoy your life. It allows you to be super productive when you are meant to. On the opposite, it protects you from over working when you should not and burning out.
How To Discover Your Personal Energy Cycle?
I wish I had a simple answer to give you but there is no shortcut here! You gotta run your own experiments…
Here is a non exhaustive list of what I learnt while running my own experiments and what you probably will realize too.
- Ups and downs are part of the very own nature of life.
- We ALWAYS bounce back.
- Our energy cycles are natural.
- We NEVER GET STUCK IN THE LOW.
If you’d like to take a deep dive into the experiment, I could support you through it all. You may join Tip Toe here.
How To Make The Most Of Your Cycle?
If you wanna build a sustainable life for yourself, you gotta learn how to dance with the ups AND the downs of your energy cycle.
For instance:
- You gotta learn to make the most of the highs to create the beautiful world you wanna see and to fight for a more sustainable world.
- You gotta learn to make the most of the lows to enjoy life, to slow down, to recover from the fights and to fill your own cup with joy.
If you wanna live a sustainable life, you gotta embrace all your states of being.
You gotta make the most of the highs when they present themselves and you gotta accept the lows.
You gotta trust that your natural rhythm works out in your favor. I promise that learning to love it not only for the highs, but also for the lows is a gift. Noticing and integrating that the highs and the lows always come to an end is a game changer. This knowing and this trust are what makes life’s natural rhythm sustainable.
Inside my tip toe package and in The Changemaking Sisters Circle, I often guide my clients through those types of experiments. I provide them with potent tools to overcome whatever life throws at them so they can fill their cup and feel their very best to keep on fighting for the brighter future we all dream of.
Written by Marine Leclerc.
Cover photo by Stacey Gabrielle Koenitz Rozells on Unsplash
