Simply defined “energy” is our capacity to do work. Many people I talk with are heading for an “energy crisis.”  They are stressed, over-whelmed and on the brink of collapse.   All is not lost, it is possible to have more energy and achieve your goals both at work and in life.\n\nI recently led a round-table discussion with a group of 12 financial advisers.   Many of them are “chronic over-achievers”  pushing harder and harder to achieve more success.  While we are all limited by the number of hours in the day, our energy is a renewable resource.\n\nThere are proven techniques that we can incorporate into our lives to increase our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual capacity. There isn’t a person I know that wouldn’t like to get more done in less time.\n\nAs a first step, it’s important to be able to identify and avoid “energy zappers.”  Negative emotions can drain our energy with lightening speed.  Emotions like frustration, impatience,  anger, fear, resentment and sadness can be toxic and deplete our energy reserve.  While positive emotions fuel energy that can drive our performance.\n\nWhat can you do?  It’s important to be able to recognize the kind of events that trigger negative emotions.  By doing so, you can gain greater control of your reactions.  Next time you feel a negative emotion, try “buying time” and do deep abdominal breathing before acting.\n\nBy increasing  self-awareness and controlling emotions, leaders can improve the quality of their energy and boost their personal productivity.\n\nLook for future blog posts on other rituals and techniques you can try to increase your energy.