Do More Of What Gives You Energy & Less Of What Drains You

May 16, 2025 | By DLake

Here’s a slightly dangerous question to ask yourself mid-week: “Is this giving me energy or draining me dry?”

It sounds simple. But runners (and those silly regular humans) are experts at ignoring that little dashboard light. We confuse struggle with progress, glorify grind and somehow, we think running ourselves ragged is the same thing as building endurance. While the whole “cumulative fatigue” is a very real concept in building up fitness in distance running, there is a fine line that most of us cross and don’t even know it.

Here’s a quick checklist for you to see if you’re getting or giving energy in different areas of your life.

Running Example
There’s a difference between a long run that leaves you tired but satisfied and a tempo session that feels like emotional bankruptcy. One deposits into your fitness bank. The other might be overdrafting it.

The key is noticing which one leaves you wanting more. Not every run needs to be a Rocky montage. Some days, a 30-minute trail jog in silence fills your cup more than a monster workout.

Work Example
Deep work feels and is very VERY different from busywork. Your brain and body know this. When you’re building something meaningful like a video, a strategy, or a piece of writing, you might finish exhausted but buzzing to wake up the next day and keep going. That’s good energy spent. But 11 back-to-back Zoom calls about a lot of stuff that could be fixed with a few considered emails by a few people that are above your pay grade? That’s just pulling from reserves you don’t have.

Friends Example
Ever hang with people who light you up? Where three hours feel like ten minutes? That’s energy well spent. Contrast that with the casual friends/work colleagues who treat every coffee catch-up as a therapy session (for them). It’s clear which one leaves you better and which one will leave you hollow.

It’s not about avoiding hard things. It’s about choosing which hard things matter.