What you will learn from this blog:
- Feeling tired has nothing to do with what you eat, do or even how many hours of sleep you get. Instead, it’s to do with where you spend your energy
- To overcome chronic fatigue, start being conscious about putting your energy into things that you genuinely enjoy and that help you meet your goals
At Intracresco, we have a lot of clients coming to us saying their lives are so busy and draining, they feel like it’s starting to affect their mental health.
It’s important to understand that the amount of energy we have does not only depend on physical factors such as sleep, rest, food etc. Energy comes primarily from willpower.
For example, you may have had a long and draining day. But if something exciting comes up, e.g. your friend asks you to play your favourite sport, and you suddenly feel like you have energy.
The root cause of chronic fatigue that is starting to affect your mental health is not long working hours, but constantly doing things that you don’t actually want to do. It is the lack of willpower.
Willpower – and our energy – comes from doing things that are in alignment with our true desires and purpose.
Here are some suggestions we give to those who come to us for mental wellness therapy looking to overcome chronic fatigue:
- Identify what you are doing in your life that you genuinely do not like doing
- Reflect on why you are doing these things. Is it because you are afraid of what will happen if you do not do them? What is this fear about? Where did this fear come from?
- Once you’ve had greater self-awareness of the above, here are a few options to consider:
- Consider how you can reduce doing things that don’t align with your desires
- Identify what things give you a genuine sense of purpose, fulfilment and joy, and take considered steps to bring more of that into your life
- There are times when we need to do things that we do not enjoy in order to achieve things that we actually want. Our willpower can be affected when we lose sight of why we are doing those things in the first place. If this is your situation, remind yourself of your original motivation for doing what you are doing
Conclusion
The amount of energy we have is directly correlated to our mental health. When we are happy, we have lots of energy. When we are sad and depressed we do not have the energy to do anything.
The amount of energy we have is not only related to how many hours we work or how many hours we have rested. It is primarily a result of how happy we are in life – whether we are doing things that we enjoy and that we are naturally inclined to do.
That said, there are also times when we need to do things we do not enjoy in order to achieve what we want. We tell all those who come to us seeking mental wellness therapy that this is when we need to reflect on what our motivations are for doing what we are doing.
For example, a person may not like shopping. But they may accompany their partner in shopping because the relationship is important to them.
Delayed gratification, hard work and discipline are important to a happy life.
The key is to be clear about what we want in life and consciously choose what we do to achieve them. When we do things just because others say they are good for us, or because that’s what everyone is doing, it puts us out of alignment with our true desires and goals, leading to feelings of tiredness
