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Wake Up Eager Podcast   |   Wake Up Eager Leader Tips

What Give You Energy and What Quietly Drains It: the 7 Day Energy Audit

Suzie Price and Dr Nicole Williams
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Learn how to notice what genuinely gives you energy, recognize the quiet drains you may have stopped seeing, and use a simple 7-Day Energy Audit to make more intentional choices about where your energy goes.


TOP 3 TAKEAWAYS

  • 1. Your Energy Leaves Clues

    • Pay attention to the moments when you light up, become absorbed, feel interested, or lose track of time—and also to the moments when you feel resistance, boredom, tension, or repeatedly think:

    “I really don't want to do this.”

    Those reactions are information.

    The clock does not necessarily tell you the energy cost of an activity. You can work hard for hours on something meaningful and finish satisfied, while ten minutes spent on something misaligned can leave you depleted.

    Being tired is not automatically the same thing as being drained.

    A better question is:

    What happens to me when I do this?

    Do I feel stretched but fulfilled?

    Or am I repeatedly depleted?

  • 2. Go Underneath the Activity to Discover What Really Energizes You

    • Don't stop with:

    “I like doing this.”

    Ask:

    “What is it about this that gives me energy?”

    Suzie shares how creating the Wake Up Eager Podcast and teaching TriMetrix look like very different activities, yet they energize her for the same underlying reason.

    She loves:

    • learning and making sense of meaningful information

    • finding the right words to explain it

    • helping someone understand themselves more clearly

    • creating moments when something clicks for another person

    The activity itself is only the first clue.

    The deeper question is:

    What is underneath this that matters to me?

    TriMetrix can offer additional places to look. 

    Motivators help us understand what naturally interests us and pulls us forward—what puts gas in our tank.

    Acumen provides another perspective by looking under the hood at how we are seeing the world around us and how we are seeing ourselves.

    But the assessment is never the final answer.

    As Suzie says: “Assessments give us a place to look. They're not here to tell you who you are. You bring meaning to the assessment.”

    The assessment gives you clues.

    Your life experience helps you understand what those clues mean.

  • 3. Not All Tired Is the Same—and Not Every Drain Means “Stop”

    • Hard work does not automatically mean something is wrong.

    Growth can be uncomfortable.

    Learning requires effort. Important conversations can take energy.

    Caring deeply about something can be tiring.

    The goal is not to avoid anything difficult.

    The goal is to become curious about recurring patterns.

    Ask: Am I stretched but fulfilled, or am I repeatedly depleted?

    And remember:

    Something doesn't have to become bad before it stops being right for you.

    Sometimes your priorities have changed.

    Sometimes you have entered a different season of life.

    Sometimes something you are very good at no longer deserves as much of your time.

    And sometimes one of your greatest strengths becomes a drain because you are overusing it.

    The thing that energizes you can eventually drain you if you don't pay attention to how you're using it.


KEY QUOTES

  • “Our energy leaves clues for us.”
  • “Sometimes our feelings are giving us an answer before we've actually figured out how to explain it.”
  • “The clock doesn't necessarily tell us the energy cost of the things we're doing.”
  • “Being tired is not automatically the same thing as being drained.”
  • “Do you use yourself very well?”
  • “Energy leaves clues.”
  • “Assessments give us a place to look. They're not here to tell you who you are. You bring meaning to the assessment.”
  • “Something doesn't have to be bad for it to stop being right for you.”
  • “The thing that energizes you can eventually drain you if you don't pay attention to how you're using it.”
  • “Energy isn't an excuse to avoid discomfort. It's information.”
  • “What kind of tired am I? Am I stretched but fulfilled, or am I repeatedly depleted?”
  • “The goal isn't simply to have more energy. It's to use your energy on what matters.”

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  • TRY THE 7 DAY ENERGY AUDIT

At the end of each day, start with two simple questions:

What gave me energy today?

What quietly drained me?

That's the heart of the exercise.

You can also notice what is happening in four areas:

Body What happened to my physical energy?

Mind Was I clear and engaged—or scattered and overloaded?

Emotions Did I feel interested, fulfilled, frustrated, resistant, bored, or flat?

Spirit / Purpose / Meaning Did what I was doing feel connected to something that matters to me?

At the end of seven days, look back.

Don't judge the individual moments.

Look for patterns.

Ask yourself:

• What keeps showing up?

• What consistently brings me alive?

• What repeatedly leaves me flat?

• What do I keep wanting to do more of?

• What am I very good at but no longer want to spend as much time doing?

• Is there a gap between what I say matters to me and where my time and energy are actually going?

You do not need to act on every observation. You're gathering information.

As Suzie says:

“Don't try to fix your whole life on Tuesday. Just notice.”

Download the free companion worksheet:

pricelessprofessional.com/energyaudit


  • A WHOLE-PERSON VIEW OF ENERGY

Suzie shares an energy-management exercise she previously used in a leadership program with executive chefs from Relais & Châteaux.

These leaders work in high-pressure luxury hospitality environments where timing, staffing, food quality, presentation, customer expectations, and team leadership often converge at once.

Rather than treating energy as simply physical, the exercise looked at four areas:

Body

Mind

Emotions

Spirit / Purpose / Meaning     

One of the most important questions from that work is:

Is there a gap between what I say matters to me and where my time and energy are actually going?

When that gap becomes large—and stays large—we often begin to feel it.


  • TRIMETRIX, MOTIVATORS & ACUMEN

TriMetrix offers another way to become more curious about where energy comes from and where it may be going.

Motivators — What Puts Gas in Your Tank?

Motivators help us understand:

• what interests us

• what naturally pulls us forward

• what feels worth the effort

• what kinds of problems we naturally want to solve

• what activities and environments tend to engage us

One way to think about it is:

Interest = Energy

The assessment may tell you that a particular motivator is a strong driver.

But the deeper learning happens when you begin noticing that motivator in your own life.

When do you become absorbed?

What do you keep coming back to?

What do you naturally want to learn, create, accomplish, lead, organize, or contribute?

The assessment provides the clue. Your life provides the evidence.

Acumen — Looking Under the Hood

Acumen offers another perspective.

It looks at both:

Worldview — how we are seeing what is happening around us and

Self-View — how we are seeing ourselves

Areas such as

Practical Thinking, Role Awareness, and Self-Direction can sometimes provide useful places to explore questions about clarity, demands, purpose, roles, and the path ahead.

A lower score does not automatically mean you are doing the wrong work.

It gives you another place to look.

The question remains:

What's going on here? Where is my energy going?


  • KNOW YOURSELF

Suzie also shares one of the ideas that has stayed with her from the work of Robert S. Hartman:

Know yourself.

Choose yourself.

Grow yourself.

Give yourself to something greater than yourself.

The order matters.

First, notice.

Know yourself.

Pay attention.

Then choose intentionally.

And keep growing.

One of the best ways to begin is simply to notice:

What brings me energy? and

What is quietly draining it?                                       


  • WHEN YOUR STRENGTH BECOMES A DRAIN

Sometimes the things that energize us can become draining when we overuse them.
Suzie shares her own tendency to overgive.
She genuinely enjoys helping people and adding value.
But a strength can become an overextension.
The same can happen with any strong motivator.
If you love results, you may overdo results.
If you love learning, you may keep researching long after enough is enough.
If you love leading, you may take responsibility for too much.
If you love rules and process, you may create more structure than the situation needs.
If you love helping and serving, you may give beyond what is useful or sustainable.
The goal is not to suppress your strengths.
It's to use them intentionally.


ABOUT SUZIE PRICE

Suzie Price is the founder of Priceless Professional Development and producer and host of the Wake Up Eager Podcast.

Through leadership development, TriMetrix assessments, coaching, and practical tools, she helps leaders build high-commitment, low-drama workplaces—and helps individuals better understand themselves so they can create lives they cannot wait to wake up to.


RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

7-Day Energy Audit

Download the free companion worksheet for this episode:

https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/energyaudit

The Opportunity Filter

This episode continues a question introduced in Episode 158:

What happens to my energy when I picture myself actually doing this?

Show notes: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/opportunityfilter

Day One Journal App

Suzie currently uses Day One for journaling, including morning and evening appreciation lists and working through thoughts when she wants greater clarity.

https://dayoneapp.com/

Abraham-Hicks

Suzie references Abraham-Hicks as a long-time resource for meditation, appreciation, focus, and energy alignment.

https://www.abraham-hicks.com/

TriMetrix

TriMetrix combines several areas of insight, including Behaviors/DISC, Motivators, and Acumen.

Learn more through Priceless Professional Development: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/

Robert S. Hartman Institute

The Robert S. Hartman Institute advances the study and application of formal axiology and the work of Dr. Robert S. Hartman. https://www.hartmaninstitute.org/

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less — Greg McKeown

Suzie credits Essentialism with helping her put language around an important realization:

You don't have to do everything you are capable of doing.

You get to decide what matters.

Learn about the book: https://gregmckeown.com/books/essentialism/

Related Wake Up Eager episode: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/essentialism

Relais & Châteaux

Suzie references leadership development work she conducted with executive chefs from Relais & Châteaux. https://www.relaischateaux.com/

HALT

A simple reminder to notice your state before taking action or having an important conversation:

H — Hungry

A — Angry

L — Lonely

T — Tired

Sometimes the best next step isn't to push through. It's to get yourself into a better state first.

KEEP EXPLORING — RELATED WAKE UP EAGER EPISODES

#134 — Feel Your Way Forward with Douglas White

Learn how emotions can become information instead of something to avoid—and how greater emotional awareness can help you move forward with more clarity and self-trust.

Listen and see show notes: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/emotionalawareness.html

#123 — How Emotional Well-Being Is the Key to Performance with Douglas White

Explore emotional awareness, our relationship with everyday tasks, and how paying attention to subtle emotional reactions can improve performance, well-being, and self understanding.

Listen and see show notes: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/emotionalwellbeing.html

#125 — Awaken Your Soul Through Personal Interests & Motivators

Go deeper into the interests and motivators that naturally fuel your energy and engagement—and learn how understanding what pulls you forward can help you create more Wake Up Eager days.

Listen and see show notes: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/motivatorslife.html

#68 — Daily Tune In Time

Discover practical ways to pause, reflect, realign your focus, and intentionally shift your energy through simple daily practices.

Listen and see show notes: https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/tune-in-time.html


START YOUR 7-DAY ENERGY AUDIT

You don't need to make a major decision today.

You don't need to completely redesign your life.

Start by paying attention.

For seven days, ask:

What gave me energy?

What quietly drained me?

Then get curious about what keeps showing up.

Because your energy is giving you feedback all day long. And the goal isn't simply to have more energy.

It's to use your energy on what matters.

Download the free 7-Day Energy Audit and find all the resources for this episode at:

https://www.pricelessprofessional.com/energyaudit


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