If you want more energy for your business, ask yourself this one question:

Am I moving toward what I want or pushing away from what I don’t want?

When you’re moving toward what you want it takes ½ the effort to achieve twice the results.

You’re in alignment. There’s less friction.

But when you’re pushing away from what you don’t want, you spend twice the energy for 1/2 the result.

You’re battling the inner critic who’s telling you that it won’t work and it’s not good enough.

For example, in my first business hosting big technical demos was exhausting. So much effort to make everything perfect.

Not just the tech, but the format, the marketing, and how I looked.

I was so focused on proving I was smart and I could do it that I had less energy available to do the most important thing: connect deeply with my audience and be in service to them.

What I had to share about data analytics was incredibly valuable but the effectiveness was diminished because my focus was on avoiding what I didn’t want (to look stupid or fail).

I’m glad I did the inner work a decade ago to transform my self concept and stop listening to the inner critic and its relentless drive for perfection.

Once you shift your focus to helping others, instead of trying to prove yourself, you naturally become more authentic and congruent.

You’re moving toward being of service instead of moving away from avoiding failure.

The “moving toward” energy is more enjoyable and effective than “pushing away from” energy.

Besides, you’ll never get what you really want by focusing on what you don’t want.

Take this principle to the next level and it’s the same story when you’re scaling your business and hiring a leadership team.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you should have all the answers.

Spending your energy trying to prove how much you know is exhausting. You’re pushing away from what you don’t want: looking weak or inadequate.

What you do want is to hire people who can execute better than you so you can focus on strategy.

That’s moving toward a future with more freedom.

The next time you notice you’re feeling depleted, ask yourself, “Where’s my focus right now?”