We are energetic beings. Our bodies and surroundings are all made up of stored energy. Our mind operates like a complex energy grid, with synapses connecting everything together. Long story short, we are energy. But many of us experience an energy crisis. We don’t feel like energetic being, we feel drained and lack energy in day-to-day life.
I faced my own energy crisis, I was tired all the time, no matter how much or little I slept, or how healthy or unhealthy I ate. My energy was simply depleted. I examined all external factors but overlooked my internal state. The truth was, my energy was drained because I was unhappy.
But why was I unhappy?
I had a house, a car, a beautiful partner, three wonderful children, and a career. What was missing?
I struggled with this question for quite some time. I always felt something was missing, that there was more to life. But being consumed by daily life, days, weeks, and even years passed without me finding an answer. Occasionally, I experienced brief moments of increased energy, during holidays or long weekends with my family. But most days, I was just exhausted. I would tell my partner: “I am done, I am just done.” This cycle continued, repeating itself over and over until my body finally said: “No more. Enough is enough.” It forced me to slow down.
”But most days, I was just exhausted. I would tell my partner: ‘I am done, I am just done.’ ”
What had I missed?
It was my career, the thing I did from Monday to Friday to support my family. Over time, my career had become all-consuming. It wasn’t always this way, but gradually, it started eating away at me from the inside out. What had once been easy money for little work had turned into little money for lots of work. I was unhappy.
My career had become an energy drainer, what started as fun and easy had turned toxic over time. There was no one to blame. We had both changed. But through all these changes, we had become a mismatch.
As my career and I drifted further apart, it began draining more and more of my energy. Work became increasingly unfulfilling. Yet I carried on, there were bills to pay and mouths to feed. I kept waiting for the right moment, a lucky break that would change our lives. But that moment never came.
At my lowest point, my career had consumed my life energy. There was nothing left. But the moment I distanced myself from my career, my energy started returning. I realized my career was the problem. I had become a corporate slave from Monday to Friday. Worse, I was enslaved in my own mind.
“I didn’t have a career, my career had me.”
I didn’t have a career, my career had me. I no longer owned my career; my career owned me.
This realization set me free. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau said: “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” I had been imprisoned, but now I was liberated. My life energy was no longer shackled.
It was a liberation by realization.
“It was a liberation by realization.”
Of course, this realization didn’t immediately fix everything, but it gave my problem a face. It made the issue recognizable, and with recognition came the possibility of change. With my newfound energy, my freedom returned to me. I was ready to conquer the world—one day at a time.
Do you feel like you own your career, or does your career own you?
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