Ben, Its a nice read, I feel the low energy caused mainly by Stress caused by any means (From relationship, or work or family), Tiredness (overdoing exercise or any physically draining work without proper sleep, rest or recovery), health & Mental issues (Cancer, diabetics, depression or anxiety, etc.,).
The points which you have highlighted caused by the above and lead to low energy..
I feel that people stuck in the virtual world or sitting in couch to get the serotonin (make them happy) since they are low on energy already. This is my point of view about low energy.
The religion and family is a system created to create the purpose in our life to keep moving & kept engaged, sometimes it drains your energy to some extent but most of the times I feel religion and family is a stress buster(boost energy) rather than draining your energy.
My favourite bit that made me laugh was near the end when you wrote "so basically we're all fucked" 😆 (I was waiting for your solution).
I've realised recently that it's very hard to know whether low energy or soreness etc is normal for your situation so it can feel like a bit of a mystery because everyone is different.
Is it normal to be tired based on what I'm doing or is there some sort of medical issue, for example.
I've been doing some fairly intensive physio rehab for my knee (previous non-surgical ACL recovery a few years back and now battling some "runners knee" from overworking it) so I'm pretty sore (muscularly) much of the time.
At age 44 and adding that to my normal exercise schedule having also been diagnosed recently with a slow thyroid I am finding it a bit strange figuring out what's normal.
So I think one of the issues is that we can't really compare and know how we should be feeling... leading us to assume that it's just how things are and stopping us looking hard for solutions.
Does that make any sense? I don't know.
Anyway, it's a nice post and could make a great manifesto for your business.
Hahaha, yeah i rewrote the ending after a mate said I need to make it more punchier!
Makes perfect sense. How are you to know how your supposed to feel? And I think many people have just adjusted to feeling shit and accept that as their "normal".
Great article. Having enough ‘energy’ is important at all levels of human involvement.
Knowing that low energy is cause for a negative outcome, but importantly that it’s also a symptom of something else, can help us alleviate the stress of so many problems facing our society.
I have now reread the article. You make many valid points however I feel it’s about focus; doing the heavy lifting, working hard until you win and becoming super disciplined.
Children are not being taught to focus. Discipline is lacking both at home and school. Lots of learning is group based resulting in children hiding behind others.
“Rather than tackling high-priority and meaningful tasks, we gravitate towards easier, trivial ones that require less brain power.” - I listened to a radio interview with a neuroscientist a while back that explained that our brains are actually changing physically because of constant distractions, and we are slowly losing our ability for deep thought as a species. Scary stuff. I’ll try to dig out the source at some point and share it with you.
As an atheist who probably doesn’t want kids, I don’t agree with the statement that a lack of purpose is caused by declining religion and less people starting families. There are plenty of other things in life to derive purpose and meaning from - happy to debate that topic over a run :)
I’m an atheist too and there’a plenty of things that give life purpose other than religion and family, such as meaning work and protecting the environment.
But the rise in the number people who feel lost as a result of a lack of purpose is irrefutable.
I also think a lot of people are (combined with the cost) choosing not to start a family because they’re too tired. All of which links the decline in human energy, which doesn’t bode well for humans long term as the population decreases.
Perhaps I’m being overdramatic, but I’m really enjoying debating this with you.
I think the cost of living and the value of money and status has resulted in people choosing jobs that pay well (the life style they think they want) rather than the jobs that give meaning and purpose. Finance also contributes greatly to the choice of starting a family. It costs to have children and if people are struggling to make ends meet for themselves, they are less inclined to bring children into the equation.
When I was working, I'd often hear comments from patients about how lucky I was because I actually loved my job.
Interesting point re people being too tired to start a family. For me I feel like having kids would reduce the time/energy I can spend on other things that give me a sense of purpose, which dilutes the impact I can have on things I care about. But I suppose if you had infinite time/energy you’d just do both. It’s always going to be a trade off though, regardless of baseline energy levels.
I think our point of disagreement is purely a correlation vs causation one: I’m happy to accept that that more people are struggling with a lack of purpose. I just don’t think lowered religion/child bearing are the cause. Although happy to hear evidence that suggests that :)
From my experience, having kids is the biggest energy commitment you can make, and why it usually takes 2 people to do it. But they also give me a ton of energy as I'm so proud of the people their becoming.
Hi! totally agree with this. It is part our responsibility I think. Rest is important, but that doesn't mean Netflix (although sometimes I think that's totally fine!) It means being active, going outside, finding hobbies. Hobbies are important because they're a mental rest from work when you're focused on something else. Let me know what you think!
P.S. On solutions to this problem, to what extent do you think strong personal boundaries play a part?
Huge.
Ben, Its a nice read, I feel the low energy caused mainly by Stress caused by any means (From relationship, or work or family), Tiredness (overdoing exercise or any physically draining work without proper sleep, rest or recovery), health & Mental issues (Cancer, diabetics, depression or anxiety, etc.,).
The points which you have highlighted caused by the above and lead to low energy..
I feel that people stuck in the virtual world or sitting in couch to get the serotonin (make them happy) since they are low on energy already. This is my point of view about low energy.
The religion and family is a system created to create the purpose in our life to keep moving & kept engaged, sometimes it drains your energy to some extent but most of the times I feel religion and family is a stress buster(boost energy) rather than draining your energy.
Thank you Dinesh and those systems are on the decline in western world, which is leaving a lot of people to feel lost.
Can't argue with much of this!
My favourite bit that made me laugh was near the end when you wrote "so basically we're all fucked" 😆 (I was waiting for your solution).
I've realised recently that it's very hard to know whether low energy or soreness etc is normal for your situation so it can feel like a bit of a mystery because everyone is different.
Is it normal to be tired based on what I'm doing or is there some sort of medical issue, for example.
I've been doing some fairly intensive physio rehab for my knee (previous non-surgical ACL recovery a few years back and now battling some "runners knee" from overworking it) so I'm pretty sore (muscularly) much of the time.
At age 44 and adding that to my normal exercise schedule having also been diagnosed recently with a slow thyroid I am finding it a bit strange figuring out what's normal.
So I think one of the issues is that we can't really compare and know how we should be feeling... leading us to assume that it's just how things are and stopping us looking hard for solutions.
Does that make any sense? I don't know.
Anyway, it's a nice post and could make a great manifesto for your business.
Ben
Hahaha, yeah i rewrote the ending after a mate said I need to make it more punchier!
Makes perfect sense. How are you to know how your supposed to feel? And I think many people have just adjusted to feeling shit and accept that as their "normal".
Great article. Having enough ‘energy’ is important at all levels of human involvement.
Knowing that low energy is cause for a negative outcome, but importantly that it’s also a symptom of something else, can help us alleviate the stress of so many problems facing our society.
Thanks mate and agree having low energy is a symptom of an underlying issue that’s hard to spot, like cancer.
I hope that by writing this, more people start realising that having low energy is not normal, and believe there is something they can do about it.
Ben
I have now reread the article. You make many valid points however I feel it’s about focus; doing the heavy lifting, working hard until you win and becoming super disciplined.
As a Wallaby you know all about these things!
Thanks James but there’s a societal decline in the ability to focus. Why do you think that is?
Children are not being taught to focus. Discipline is lacking both at home and school. Lots of learning is group based resulting in children hiding behind others.
You can’t do that as a Wallaby!
Great article Ben!
“Rather than tackling high-priority and meaningful tasks, we gravitate towards easier, trivial ones that require less brain power.” - I listened to a radio interview with a neuroscientist a while back that explained that our brains are actually changing physically because of constant distractions, and we are slowly losing our ability for deep thought as a species. Scary stuff. I’ll try to dig out the source at some point and share it with you.
As an atheist who probably doesn’t want kids, I don’t agree with the statement that a lack of purpose is caused by declining religion and less people starting families. There are plenty of other things in life to derive purpose and meaning from - happy to debate that topic over a run :)
I’m an atheist too and there’a plenty of things that give life purpose other than religion and family, such as meaning work and protecting the environment.
But the rise in the number people who feel lost as a result of a lack of purpose is irrefutable.
I also think a lot of people are (combined with the cost) choosing not to start a family because they’re too tired. All of which links the decline in human energy, which doesn’t bode well for humans long term as the population decreases.
Perhaps I’m being overdramatic, but I’m really enjoying debating this with you.
I think the cost of living and the value of money and status has resulted in people choosing jobs that pay well (the life style they think they want) rather than the jobs that give meaning and purpose. Finance also contributes greatly to the choice of starting a family. It costs to have children and if people are struggling to make ends meet for themselves, they are less inclined to bring children into the equation.
When I was working, I'd often hear comments from patients about how lucky I was because I actually loved my job.
Interesting point re people being too tired to start a family. For me I feel like having kids would reduce the time/energy I can spend on other things that give me a sense of purpose, which dilutes the impact I can have on things I care about. But I suppose if you had infinite time/energy you’d just do both. It’s always going to be a trade off though, regardless of baseline energy levels.
I think our point of disagreement is purely a correlation vs causation one: I’m happy to accept that that more people are struggling with a lack of purpose. I just don’t think lowered religion/child bearing are the cause. Although happy to hear evidence that suggests that :)
From my experience, having kids is the biggest energy commitment you can make, and why it usually takes 2 people to do it. But they also give me a ton of energy as I'm so proud of the people their becoming.
This article from Katherine Boyle cites the evidence: https://www.thefp.com/p/get-serious-about-purpose
Too much thinking and not enough doing. Stop talking and get on with it .
Lol! More talk is needed because most of the doing has ended up with solutions that comparable to putting a band aid on a broken leg.
Hi! totally agree with this. It is part our responsibility I think. Rest is important, but that doesn't mean Netflix (although sometimes I think that's totally fine!) It means being active, going outside, finding hobbies. Hobbies are important because they're a mental rest from work when you're focused on something else. Let me know what you think!