Hi friends,

Have you ever noticed that when you try to save energy by decreasing your effort, you feel more tired and drained at the end of the day?

I noticed this week that when my schedule was full of seeing patients back-to-back, I felt more energized than when my schedule was empty, and I had a lot of free time on my hands. Ironically, my least busy day at work left me the most tired at the end of the day.

My hypothesis for this effect is that humans are designed to work, not to sit idle and relax. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi put it well in his book Flow, "People generally look forward to leisure time and getting off of work, but once they have free time, they don't know what to do with it. Ironically, jobs are actually easier to enjoy than free time, because like flow activities they have built-in goals, feedback, and challenges, all of which encourage one to become involved in one's work.

By challenging yourself to push your limits, you can experience a state of flow, but to do this, you need to be fully present and immerse yourself in the task at hand. If you’re working a 9-5 job that you don’t enjoy, it might be worth experimenting with the level of effort you put in at the office. You may be surprised by your energy levels at the end of the day. If you had more energy after your shift, you could put time toward starting your own business or pursuing other interests or hobbies that you haven’t given enough time to yet.

The feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment comes with overcoming obstacles and struggling. A life without challenges is boring and unfulfilling. Don’t walk through life half-heartedly; focus on the effort you bring to each task because it is one of the few things that is under your voluntary control.

Until next week,

Kevin