Time or Energy. What is your most valuable asset?

This might be controversial, but time is not your most valuable asset. 

Your energy is.

I’ve seen this so many times in my clients. I’ve been there myself.

We bow at the altar of time management gurus that preach ‘secret hacks’, time-block our calendars like Tetris desperados, and humble-brag about how busy we are.

We set ourselves on fire to deliver in every possible waking moment. And we burn too hot, for too long.

I was a lone interned psychologist, helping streams of despairing young men entering youth detention daily. I had no support, but plenty of criticism. I worked long hours. I burned out.

And when we burn out, what is left to us? 

Time. So much time - and no energy to use it. I’ve seen how burnout wipes out careers, how it wiped out my career. I’ve seen burnout cause paralysis and mental illness.

Without energy, and thus wellness, time has little value. Time becomes a burden.

I learned the hard way that no job is worth that sacrifice.

Please, set the world on fire with your goodness. But maintain that beautiful warm fire within you as your first priority.

Because your precious energy is your fuel for everything else that you do.