How to manage your energy to be happier

I believe that you need to enjoy it. As Richard Koch wrote in his book The 80/20 Principle: “Do what you love to do. Let this be your job. He took as a basis the discovery of the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto), which was later formulated into the principle of the same name, according to which 20% of efforts bring 80% of results.

This principle is often used in economics, but it can be applied to any area of life. For example, Koch believed that about 20% of our actions brought us 80% of happiness. Of course, these numbers are conditional. Sometimes 90% of your happiness comes from 10% of your actions. In my case, 100% is determined by one single factor - energy.

Understand How Energy Levels Affect Your Happiness

I thought about this for a long time and, in order to figure it out, I constantly asked myself:

Why am I in a good mood today?
Why am I in a bad mood today?
Why am I happy now?
Why am I stressed now?

I wrote down the answers in my diary. In general, I find keeping a journal very useful. In the end, I noticed that the same thing was repeated all the time: my mood depends on the amount of energy.

A lot of energy is a good mood. I am confident, look forward to the future, smile, enjoy life and do what I like.
Low energy - bad mood. I'm sad, I'm not sure of myself, I'm afraid to think about the future, I avoid looking people in the eye, I'm nervous.

All this seems to be obvious, but no one teaches how to manage their energy - not at school, not at work. Although this is what affects the quality of life.

Learn to manage your energy

First, ask yourself:

What actions are destroying my mood and siphoning my energy?
What activities lift my spirits and energize me?

And let's not say, "I love going to parties and spending money." This is not a serious answer, and since you are reading this article, then you are really thinking about your future.

Now I will explain with my own example. Writing articles for me is difficult and tedious business, it does not give me positive emotions at all. But after I write something, I am pleased with myself, I have a lot of energy. So it's worth it for me. So it's not about avoiding difficulties. It's about watching how certain actions affect energy levels and feelings of happiness.

Determine which 20% of the actions give the most positive results. Go through each area of life: health, work, relationships, finances. Then try to do these actions more often.
Continuously assess whether the situation has changed. To do this, keep notes in a journal and ask yourself if you are on the right track. Life is not static - you have to manually adjust your course.

Do not strive to be in a good mood every minute: it is still impossible. Learn to manage your energy in order to enjoy what you are doing and to endure life's difficulties more easily. Start by asking "What is one thing I can do today to improve my mood?" Please repeat this question tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And every day after that.