10 Surprising Habits That Are Secretly Draining Your Energy (And How to Break Them)

I saw my son playing around with a wooden dolly the other day and I said "stop that, that's dangerous- that thing is old" and just as he was starting to object...boom a splinter happened. 

So I start searching my makeup bag for some tweezers and as I start poking around at the piece of wood, tears start falling down his little face. "Just leave it in there mom" he says anticipating the worst. 

Alas, once we got it out it was painless and he experienced immediate relief. 

If you've ever experienced the uncomfortable nature of a splinter you probably know all too well the feeling of a foreign object invading your body. And the relief that comes the second you get it out. 

That feeling is no different than living with habits that are secretly draining your energy. 

And if you're anything like my son, you may be too afraid to get rid of them even though doing so will bring you the most amazing relief. 

So without further ado, here are the most common habits I see as a Hypnotherapist that are secretly draining your energy...enjoy!

1. Entertaining a thought that goes against your goals. Let's say you're trying to work on your marriage, but suddenly a thought pops into your mind about that one time your husband said a horrible thing, if that thought isn't supporting your bigger goal, it shouldn't be entertained -period. 

When you are trying to heal big things you need to look at your triggers and wounds prior to making the commitment to move forward. That way you can forgive, reframe or release as needed. After that, any thoughts you entertain should be used to move toward your goal. 

2. Scrolling social media. Unless you're getting paid for it, you should be choosy of how you spend your time and energy. Social media in particular can pick at subconscious wounds like abandonment and "not good enough." Your cup will be filled when you live your own life, make your own mistakes and grow from them- never while you live vicariously through highlight reels of other peoples lives. 

3.  The things you imagine. Much like number one, the pictures you create in your mind shape your life. If you spend your time worrying about the end of the world, what horrible things society is doomed to feel and how you'll end up alone, you will see that reflected in your energy. Instead practice creating pictures of what you do want. More money in your bank account, a six-pack, and loving spouse. Once you get the hang of making that your focus, you will begin to see those images reflected in your outer life. 

4. Your lack of praise. If you aren't regularly praising yourself you are missing out on a good dose of energy. As nice as it feels to have other people praise you, studies show that nothing comes close to the praise you give yourself. It feels really good to genuinely feel good about yourself because it helps you be secure of who you are and what you're capable of and once it's locked in, no one can take that from you. 

5. Trying to fix things from a disempowered place. You can't get to where you're going with the same mentality that go you were you are. You must be willing to change at least 1% of the equation. Without that shift, you run the risk of literally never making any progress or self-sabotaging any little progress you do make. 

6. Not doing anything. If you fall into the idea of mental health being restored by couch-rotting, spa treatments or just not doing anything I have news for you...you are in HUGE energetic debt. You are prolonging moments of feeling, taking action, and healing that are building up inside of you taking up massive amounts of subconscious energy. Think of it like all the opened tabs on your phone or computer. They might still allow for you to do your thing...until they don't. Get in the habit of taking even the tiniest bit of action and let that roll where it may. 

7. Not making time for your feelings. One of the secrets behind drained energy is unexpressed feelings. These young people and their feelings amiright? But seriously, the things that keep us stuck is not our feelings about things but rather our resistance to them. We want to control things so much and we want to so badly be perfect that we resist feeling sad, angry and even happy and successful. Allow yourself to feel all of it and you will see a massive spike in your energy and overall hunger for all of life. 

8. Not engaging with nature. I'm not just talking about the picture perfect mountains and beach. I'm talking about standing outside and feeling the breeze in your hair and the sun in your skin. I'm talking about natural whole foods entering your body. I'm talking about allowing yourself to stand around naked for a few minutes before you rush to cover your body for the whole day. Nature should be your first source of recharging. I know it's so tempting and delicious to rely on gimmicky foods, drinks and coffee but try unplugging from everything for a good 15 minutes and check out how that makes you feel. 

9. The way you spend time with energy vampires. Look, in a perfect world I would say don't hang out with people that drain your energy-period. But I am fully aware that that's not always so easy. So, instead i'll say this: pay attention to how you spend time with them. If you are listening to them talk and you are mentally criticizing every word that comes out of their mouth...stop that. Either just use it as practice to be an active listener or cut the conversation short. If you're letting their words hurt your feelings, stop that too. Learn to know and love yourself so that what they say is truly irrelevant. 

10. You're putting too much effort into a lot of different things. You should have 2-3 goals maximum that occupy your time (and you should have free time) Let's say you have a goal to get healthier, to make more money, to fix your marriage, to  learn an instrument, to help your child learn a new language, to visit more cute coffee shops, etc. You should only be focusing on 2-3 of those per month until you hit your goals. 

Want to make it super easy to upgrade your subconscious programming so that your thoughts, emotions and actions can support your goals? Imagine you programmed yourself to make an extra 5K per month. Or to effortlessly lose 2lbs per week or to love yourself so much, you naturally had the energy to get cute and live your best life every day... That is exactly what we do inside my signature program The Freedom Trifecta. This method can't be googled. It can't be taught. This is all about doing the work that only you know how to do. Want to learn more? Click Here