42 COMMUNICATOR
form of energy. If you are up, you raise up
the people around you. If you are down,
people feel that too. You spread your emo-
tional energy through your face and your
posture, and the way you enter a room or
hold yourself in conversation. People often
tell me that they appreciate feeling the excite-
ment I have for what I do. At the end of a talk
they come up to me and say that they feel
energized or motivated. Feeling their energy
also fuels me. It's a powerful, positive cycle
that can lead to great work and great relation-
ships. On the flip side, when I'm struggling
with something and I'm running low on
emotional energy, my family tells me that I
can get a little… grumpy. If I'm not careful,
before I know it, I inadvertently infect my
family and then we have a household of
grumps to deal with. So check in with your-
self to see if your emotional energy levels are
making life better or worse for the folks
around you. And notice how the people
around you are affecting you. We all get more
out of the day when we brush up against
positive, enthusiastic people – so find some.
2. No one can have high, positive emo-
tional energy 100 per cent of the time. That's
an unrealistic and unhealthy goal. It would
be like trying to stay awake all the time. You
grow by stressing and resting your emotions
(just like your muscles or your mind). That
said, we are most creative, productive and
proactive when we have high, positive
P R O D U C T I V I T Y
©iStock / PeopleImages
