Where do you get your energy from?

 



I have been working over the summer while everyone else had their break. That was my choice and I am shortly heading off for a week so no sympathy needed ! As so many of the meetings and events I would normally take part in didn’t happen over the summer the vast majority of what I was doing was the less fun part of being a charity CEO. Lots of administration and budgets and finance and governance. All extremely valuable and necessary but not something which necessarily fires me up!

This week meetings and events have started up again and on Tuesday I had the delight of attending the autumn meeting of the Emotional Health Alliance. A group of about 40 or so organisations that we at The Centre for Emotional Health convene, people who understand emotional health as the important thread which runs through the work of all the member organisations. We spent time sharing what had been going on for us recently, any big events coming up and considering some new research around empathy, thanks to Empathy Studios and Empathy Week. We also had a fantastic panel on emotional health in the workplace including Working Families and The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

I felt incredibly energised as a result. Not just by the stimulating conversations and learning taking place but by being with this group of individuals. There is something so powerful about being in a room of wonderful people who are all passionate about their roles in various charities and organisations all sharing a vision for improving individuals, families, groups, and society.

For those of us in the charity or indeed public service sector, it can be very easy sometimes to get lost in the routines of work but it is good to raise our eyes and look at the reason why we do what we do. To remind ourselves of the importance of our work, who benefits from it and what that looks like.

I am an extrovert; I definitely get energy from being with people (lock down for me was tough!) and I also get energy from feeling like what I do makes a difference. The irony of course is that part of what I do includes the stuff I did over the summer and nothing at The Centre for Emotional Health would happen if I didn’t do that as well as the stuff which I find more energising. Neither is more or less important even if I enjoy one more than the other – both are vital. I need to ensure I balance both by having sufficient energy giving activities to get me through those that expend more energy.

What about you? Where do you get your energy from? How do you regulate it across all of your tasks, both at work and outside of work? I’d love to know so comment below or message me.


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