Where to invest your energy

Decision Making

11 Nov

Written By Katherine Maxwell

3 things to do when you don’t know where to invest your energy

by Kate Maxwell

“The way to make progress is through small incremental experiments.”

Not sure where to invest your time or energy during a career change?

I break down how to define your energy, uncover the ideas you’ve dismissed, and stop waiting for a perfect plan.

Perfect if you’re changing up careers and figuring out your next step!

SPOTIFY | APPLE

Timestamps

00:00 – Overcoming decision paralysis

00:30 – Spotting the ideas you’ve quietly dismissed

02:33 – Defining what “energy” means for you

03:56 – Free workshop: How to Make Better Career Decisions

05:09 – Why imperfect action beats the perfect plan

07:23 – Wrapping up and what’s next

“What have you already written off before giving it a chance?”

Full Transcript

3 things to do when you don’t know where to invest your energy

So I get this a lot — this question of “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to put my energy.”
And it can feel really paralyzing because there are lots of options. You’ve got a lot of energy to give, and you don’t know what to do about it.

So let’s just unpack it. Let’s dive in.

I’m your host, Kate Maxwell. I’m an expert at coaching media and tech pros wanting to choose a new career direction, and this show exists to support you as you take the leap with pep talks, tools, and techniques.
This is Blueprints to Becoming.

What Have You Already Written Off?

I’m always really curious when I hear this idea of “I don’t know where to put my energy.”
I’m really curious about what are the options that you’ve already written off — because there will be some.
This is always the case. There will be options that you have already written off.

Or people will say, “Oh, I just have no idea,” and I’m like, Hmm, let’s really unpack that.

Because there is almost always a little something under the surface — something that is just waiting to be said out loud.
That little dream, that little nudge, that little vision that you haven’t admitted maybe to anyone yet because it just feels too nuts or it feels off the cards.

So the first thing I’d like you to do is think about: what have you already written off?
What have you already dismissed?
Maybe: “I could do that, but no, because X, Y, Z.” Or “I could go get an office job, but no, because whatever.”

Whatever the reason is you’ve given yourself — what actually were those ideas?

Reexamine that and have a look at, Okay, what if that thing actually wasn’t a problem?
What if whatever the reason is you’ve dismissed it was not a real thing — would you want to go for it then?

And also have a think about everything you’ve not said out loud — the options that feel a bit spicy, you know, that feel a bit like, Can I? Is that allowed?

Start putting those on the table.

Coaching is such a great place to get into that. I love so much when people say something to me out loud for the first time — being with them as they really start to own those desires and that direction that feels interesting, intriguing, curious, exciting… but scary.

And what do you do with that?
So have a think about those options. Let’s put them on the table and start to give them a little bit more space.

Define What “Energy” Means for You

The next thing I want you to do is define what energy means for you.

If you’re thinking, “Oh, I don’t know where to invest my energy” — what are we talking about here?

Is that:

“I have five minutes on my lunch break and I want to do something useful with that time”?
Or is it: “I want to make a massive push outside of work with all the time that’s available to me to transition my career”?

What is the energy?
How can you quantify that?

Because that will also help you to work out how you can best use it — how you can best use that energy and that time.

I would also say that small, consistent investments of time and energy will reap more rewards and be more sustainable as you transition your career than all-out, all-in, throw-everything-at-it bursts — which can leave you feeling really empty and really disheartened.

I would just caution against that approach.

Equally, I have neurodiverse clients for whom that is the more viable way of doing things.

So know yourself, know your energy, and choose the kind of distribution that feels better for you — the way of investing your energy that feels better for you.

A Quick Pause: Free Workshop

Super quick pause for me to tell you all about my honestly 10 out of 10 workshop.
It’s called How To Make Better Career Decisions.

It’s completely free. It’s 18 minutes long. You can watch it.
There are some absolutely banging slides if you’re more of a visual thinker — super fun.

Or if you prefer audio, obviously we are here today in your ears — you can also grab the workshop in your podcast app through a private feed.

I’ll talk you through:

why you’re struggling to make career decisions
what those hidden barriers are that are keeping you stuck
a really clear three-step method for decision making so you can finally move forwards

It’s so good. I’m absolutely delighted with how this workshop came out.

It’s recorded just for you — it’s not a recording of a live thing I ran.
It’s literally created for you for the purpose of helping you out in this moment.

You can get it for free if you head to katemaxwellcoach.com/free-workshop.
You can also grab the link in the show notes and sign up right now.

It will be in your inbox and you can get into it straight away.
It’s super practical, super digestible, super happy with it.

Okay, let’s dive back in.

The Myth of the Perfect Plan

Not knowing where to invest your energy can also be because you are waiting for the one perfect plan.

I know we talk about this a lot, but it bears repeating: there is no one perfect plan.

There is no perfect five-year plan.
There is no one perfect vision.

The way to make progress is through small incremental experiments — through reflecting on that and continuing to build momentum in a direction, or multiple directions, that give you energy and that are exciting.

Not knowing where to invest your energy often hides this deeper fear of choosing wrong.
“I don’t know where to invest my energy because I’m afraid of putting time and energy and effort into the wrong (and I’m using air quotes) ‘place.’”

That somehow it would be a disaster.

But do you know what?
If you did do that — if you pursued something for a window of time and it didn’t work out as you’d hoped — you would have learned so much.

And you’d be so much further along than if you did nothing.

So instead of thinking about “What’s the one right thing?” or just “What’s the right thing to invest my energy into?” look for “What is the next step or next steps where I can put my energy that will help me move forwards?”

Excitement Meets Practicality

It’s always more nuanced than just what’s exciting — because what’s exciting might not match your practical needs for living your life as a grown-up adult, for providing for your family, for building for the future.

So thinking about where to invest your energy takes those things into account as well.

I know it’s not as simple as “what’s exciting,” but often the thing that gives us energy is a combination of:

something exciting, something we’re passionate about
and something that gives us energy because it meets values like security and building for the future

I know that’s important to you.
It’s really important to all my clients — to make sure they have that security and to be enjoying the time they have now whilst also knowing that they’re going to be secure in the future.

Let’s Sum It Up

When you’re wondering where to invest your energy:

Do a quick audit of all the ideas you’ve already had, quietly written off, or never said out loud. What could they tell you about where to invest your energy next?
Think about how much energy you have to commit — that will tell you what types of actions make sense for you right now.
Remember: you don’t need the perfect plan or idea.

“Motion begets clarity and certainty.”

Taking action — even imperfectly, especially imperfectly — is such a great teacher.
It helps you see more clearly the next step, and the next, and the next.

Final Thoughts

I hope this has been useful in helping you think about where to invest your energy.

If you’re still not clear — if you still need more support — then you know where to find me.
Head to my website or the show notes to get in touch.

I’d love to hear from you.

And if you enjoyed the show, feel free to subscribe, follow, rate, review — you know the jam.

Next week, we’re talking about how to feel more sure of yourself — building self-trust so you can back yourself in a more assured and confident way.

We’ll be talking about the two cycles — the cycle of self-doubt and the cycle of self-trust — and how they play out and what you can do about it.

I’m looking forward to it, and I’ll see you there.
Have a fab day and a fab week.

You’ve got this. I believe in you. Bye for now.

* This blog post was co-created with AI, using my transcript. My aim is for the blog to be as verbatim as possible, so you’re in contact with me not the robots! Using AI means the blog can exist in the first place so it’s a use that works for me right now!

Any thoughts, let me know!