How to Release to Have More Time, Energy & Money

As we come to the end of the year (or any time of year), it is good to be able to jump in and do some releasing of things that don't serve you anymore. Why? So we can have more time, energy, and money. 

Let’s break down each of those aspects: time, energy, and money. Then, let’s talk about the different ways you can find more of them and release things that are taking up your time, energy, and money so that in the next year or in the next 12 months, you are going to be able to feel so much better to drop these things that are holding you back from:

• achieving your goals 
• having focus, and 
• building confidence!

Because when we lack time, energy, and money, it really makes everything harder. It's like you're going after your goals, but you're either in quicksand or you're in really sticky, heavy mud, and you're going uphill. It makes things a lot harder. 

When you don't have enough time, you feel rushed, you feel stressed, and you have to prioritize. 

But oftentimes, what I see with my clients, is their health and personal goals suffer because they end up putting other people's agendas first, like their kids, spouses, other obligations, work, business, or clients, when they really need to spend the time on themselves.

When we don't have the energy, we don't have the ability to be motivated, to move past situations that need resilience, persistence, and it’s hard to work through the obstacles. We're just too tired. Then bad habits come into play because we're trying to just get by.

When we don't have the money, it puts us in a scarcity mindset. It's not a place you want to be because then you make decisions that are not bold. You'll be protective of yourself, so you take on clients and customers who aren't in alignment with who you want to work with. Finally, you take on projects or jobs you really don't want to do, which ends up zapping your energy and your time as well. 

YOUR TIME

Look back on the past year or the past 12 months, and ask yourself, “Where did I focus my time?”

• Was it on social media? 
• Was it in a group that doesn't serve you? (It could be a networking group, a group online, or a group of friends) 
• Were you watching TV, rather than maybe reading or rather than focusing on a goal? 

I encourage you to take a few moments and write your answer down. 

Another good way to really figure this out is to look at your planner, schedule, or calendar, and see where you were and where most of your time was spent. You might have used a time tracking tool like Toggl where you can actually see which tasks you were spending time on. 

Then reflect on a typical day or week. 

• What were your evenings like? 
• When did you finish work? 
• What did you do after work? 
• What were you then doing on the weekends?
• How much time did you get to sleep? 

Once you know exactly where you were focusing your time, you can decide if you want to continue doing that. A lot of times we get into bad habits or we get into coping mechanisms that are based on just what we decide in the moment to do rather than setting a very clear intention for how we want to spend our time. 

I fall into this trap when I'm tired, and I just want to put on Netflix and zone out. But I know that it doesn't serve me. I should just go to bed or read. I have so many books that I want to read, and I'm not doing it. If I have time to watch a two-hour movie, I have time to read. 

By doing this reflection of where you spend your time, you get to consciously decide where you want to spend your time moving forward. 

YOUR ENERGY

With energy, I'm going to focus more a little bit on who you're being. Prepare yourself I have a lot of great questions for you: 

• Where are you spending your energy? 
• Are you focusing your energy on worrying or on stressing on people who don't support you? 
• When you’re looking at social media, was it focused on jealousy, desire, or envy of what other people have? 
• Are you focusing on who you're not? 
• Did you focus your energy on procrastinating rather than just going and doing what you want?
• Were you being busy or were you being productive? 
• Was your energy on reaction rather than being proactive? 
• Is your energy on exercising or was your energy on rehab? 
• Was your energy on eating healthy, sleeping properly or was the energy spent on making coffee and taking care of your illnesses with medicine? (Not saying that taking care of yourself after you're sick is wrong. More so, was all of your energy spent on the after, rather than the before or on the prevention, rather than the solving of the problem?) 

Think back to situations. Look at all areas of your life. Then, ask yourself, “Was I focusing my energy on things that were most important to me? Is this how I want to spend my energy?”

As I go through all of this, it brings up the importance of the Dynamic Year Program. Looking back on the past year really gives us insight as to how we want to live moving forward…

• so we don't make the same mistakes again… 
• so we don't get into negative, habitual loops of doing the same thing… 
• that we don't let the saboteur win.

YOUR MONEY

This is actually what brought about this blog. I was looking over my credit card statements from this month, and was surprised, “Wow, I'm putting $7 for this and $35 for that, and $100 for that, and $250 for that.” All unnecessary!

Why? At this time of year I take stock as to what I really need and want moving forward. It’s time to ask you a few questions, and share ones I'm focusing on right now. 

1. Are you focusing your money on software you don't use? There are a couple of things in my business where I realize, “I'm not really using that, but I'm paying so many hundreds of dollars for it every month. I need to release them.” 
2. Is it on food and alcohol? Maybe those go against your goals. If you have a goal of being healthier, are you still putting money into chocolates, chips, cookies, pizza, and alcohol? But you maybe turn your nose up a little bit to the price of certain fruits or health supplements or items that are going to help you be healthier like a personal trainer? 
3. Are you spending on items that you didn't need or items that feed your ego, rather than things that you truly want and desire which help you reach your goals? 

When I was looking at my credit card statements, I was looking at one of my major CRMs and thinking, “Do I really need it to be like this”? 

I was also looking at a funnel software and thinking, “I haven't been using that.” 

Even things like my Spotify account - do I really need it? I'm at home, I have Amazon Prime music, and I also use the TV music stations, so do I really need that? Because the main reason for getting Spotify was to have uninterrupted music for when I'm running my events. I decided it's just not necessary right now. 

As I wrap this up I have to share that with all of these areas where you focus your time, your energy, and your money, you have the choice to release parts permanently. You also have the choice to release them temporarily to see if you can be without it. For example, with Spotify, you may think, “It's just 10 bucks, it doesn't matter.” Well, it adds up, and which book would be better purchased with that $10? ANd what charity could use that $120 a year? 

Maybe you wish to hire a VA. I've got two VAs and people say, “Oh, but you're at a different level than me.” You know, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what level you're at. No CEO runs the company all by themselves. If you cancel a few unnecessary subscriptions, you could have a few hours of support from the VA which will make a big difference. 

Where would you focus your energy, if you knew you would have 10% more energy? Where would you focus your energy if it wasn’t being sucked down by you comparing yourself to others or reacting to people who don't support you? Or worrying about things or procrastinating? 

What could you do with that pocket of energy? 

• Write your book. 
• Start your podcasts
• Go after some of the clients or customers you really want to work with. 

If you had more time, what would you do with that? 

• Would you spend it with loved ones and build those relationships more? 
• Would you take on a passion project of something you've only been dreaming about? 

Really, the possibilities are endless, but it comes down to conscious choice and setting intentions. 

These questions of where do you want to focus your time, your energy, and your money, sets up the Dynamic Year Program. After we evaluate the past year, we will go through and grab all that wisdom and then create a plan when we look at our new goals. 

My 3-Step Process will give you A BETTER YEAR...GUARANTEED! You've worked hard and dealt with all of the issues of the last year! Now is the time to get together with other Dynamic Women for an end of the year planning session to celebrate 2022 being over and planning for 2023! MY GOAL IS TO MAKE YOUR SUCCESS EASIER TO ACHIEVE!

Release the bad. Find out where you can cut things out to gain more time, boost your energy, and have more money. Release them. AND then add in what will really support you to have a Dynamic Year with your Dynamic Year Plan!

Join the Dynamic Year Program, I am doing it in January. Check out the previous link or email about 1:1 coaching at diane@dianerolston.com.

Read my other blogs here:

1. 3 Tips to Appear Confident

2. 3 Reasons You’ll Want to Review Your Year

3. 3 Things Leaders Need Post-Covid