Read the Transcript:

Hello there, friends! Welcome to The Live FAB Life Podcast. I'm your host Naomi Nakamura.

Today we will discuss something I briefly touched on in the past two episodes - Episode 259 on Eating for Energy and Episode 260 on Exercising for Energy - and its energy leaks.

What are energy leaks? We'll get into that in a little bit, but first, let’s back it up a bit.

A common complaint that I hear over and over again is, “I'm so tired all the time.”

We wonder why we’re irritable, on edge, yawning throughout the day, nodding off at 3 pm, and can’t live without something caffeinated and sugary to make it through the day.

While also suffering from burnout, anxiety, aches and pains, digestive issues, and even hormonal imbalances.

Everything is connected, so we need to back things up and take a hard, honest look at why these happen. Where is our energy going? What are we spending our energy on? If we don't have enough energy, why? Where is the energy that we do have going?

With myself and the clients that I’ve worked with, much of it can be attributed to energy leaks.

Energy leaks are the things that we’re spending our energy on that don’t matter. They’re unhealthy things that we waste our energy on. They don’t contribute to health or productivity and usually leave us feeling no-so-good.

There’s no shortage of energy leaks. I probably can and likely will do several episodes on various energy leaks. Still, today, I want to chat about two energy leaks that we know have been a problem since the emergence of social media.

First, let’s talk about hate following.

Hate following is when you follow a social media account of someone or something that you hate. You can’t stand it. Everything the account posts and shares irritates you. It’s upsetting you and/or might be a train wreck that you just can’t look away from. But that’s the point - you can’t look away. Social media has been around for about 20 years, so you might have hated following some accounts for that long.

I used to hate-follow, particularly in the early days of Twitter when the app wasn’t so toxic and people were much more open and sharing.

But I got to a point, somewhere around 2010 or 2011, where I realized that I was spending too much being angry and annoyed, and I wasn’t doing myself any favors by continuing to follow these accounts that triggered me. They didn’t even feel funny anymore.

So I unfollowed because the emotions that following these accounts invoked - anger, irritation - it didn't feel good, and it wasn’t good for my nervous system.

And after unfollowing, guess what - my days were so much better. They started off brighter because isn’t one of the first things we do when we wake up in the morning is pick up our phones and start scrolling? It sets the tone for the day.

By unfollowing, my days started on a more positive note and just flowed better. I made a point only to follow accounts that made me feel good, and before I knew it, I wasn’t even spending any thoughts on what I hated following.

It made me realize how insulated I was, like I’d been living in a bubble, and just by unfollowing those accounts, it was as if a whole new world opened up to me of things I’d been missing out on.

But I know hate following is still a thing, and you know how I know? Because I hear people complain about the accounts that they hate follow. I hear them getting worked up about it. I hear them get upset over what they see these accounts share.

It’s problematic because it’s usually not just one account they hate follow - it's many accounts. So think about what you feel every time you pick up your phone and open one of the many social media apps that you use and see something that an account that you hate follow posts.

Then amplify that by how many accounts you hate follow, then multiply that by the number of posts each of those accounts makes.

That’s how much energy you spend feeling angry, irritated, annoyed, frustrated. That’s a lot of wasted energy unnecessarily - an energy leak. No wonder you can't relax. No wonder you're worked up. No wonder you're on edge all the time. No wonder you’re tired and exhausted all the time.

Think about what kind of effect it has on your nervous system. Remember, your body doesn’t differentiate what kind of stress it’s under - the physical response is all the same.

We already have so much unavoidable stress that we have to deal with, why leak energy on things that we have the power to avoid?

No good comes out of hate following. You don't have control over what someone else posts. You don't have control over what someone else thinks, and getting into an online debate is pointless because it usually results in an argument and amounts to nothing. It’s a waste of time. It’s unproductive. It’s a waste of energy. So, unfollow the accounts you hate, focus on the accounts that make you feel good, and reclaim your energy by stopping this energy leak.

The second energy leak I want to discuss today is our inability to put our phones down.

One of the first things we do when we get up in the morning is pick up our phones and start scrolling when we really need to get out of bed and get our day going.

Then it’s the middle of the day, and we need to get some work done, but you “need to” catch up on all the posts you’ve missed.

Or at the end of the day, when you should be getting ready for bed, but you can't stop playing your game (for me, it's Woodoku).

Or, you can't stop scrolling, reading where you can't seem to leave your group chat because - FOMO! But before you know it, it’s past midnight, and I don’t know about you, but going to bed at midnight is about two solid hours of sleep lost, and for what? The next level of my game? Reading an extra chapter or seeing another because of FOMO?

Believe me, I get it. I do. I’m speaking from first-hand experience and working on this too.

But we can’t deprioritize the fact that our bodies need sleep. Our brains need sleep. I’ve had clients tell me that their brain just doesn’t stop - you aren’t giving it the opportunity to when you’re deprioritizing sleep!

Our body and brain rest, repair, rejuvenate themselves, and resets when we sleep. When we don't sleep, these things don't happen!

If you have an Undefined Sacral center in your Human Design, meaning you’re a Projector, Manifestor, or Reflector, you’re particularly sensitive to not getting enough sleep and rest.

In fact, for non-Sacrals with Undefined Sacral centers, the best workout we can do is rest and sleep. I should’ve said this in the last episode on Exercising for Energy, but I believe sleep is one of the best workouts for Projectors, Manifestors, and Reflectors.

If I’m tired, didn’t sleep well the night before, or feeling rundown, I've learned that a workout is counterproductive for me, and I’m better off skipping a workout instead of rest.

So, put down your phone and stop this energy leak. In a world where many things are out of our control, this one is something we absolutely have control over.

I have two funny stories related to this that I’ll share because I always get comments about my personal stories.

The first one is, well, it’s actually not-so-funny.

In my attempt to also “put my phone down,” I decided that instead of charging my phone on my nightstand right next to my bed, I’d charge it overnight on my desk, which isn’t near my bedroom.

The first (and only) night that I tried this, I was woken up in the middle of the night by someone yelling and pounding on my door. I had to call 911, and while I was on the phone with 911, another neighbor also made a call about it because they could see the commotion that was going on.

But to make that 911 call, I had to creep out to my desk, right next to the door where this intruder was.

A drunk person had gone to the wrong house, but it scared me. So, now my phone is back on my nightstand after that one-night experiment.

When I wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or for whatever reason, I try to do my best not to touch my phone because if I do, the chances of going back to sleep become zero-to-none.

When I pick up my phone and the light comes on, it tricks my brain into thinking that it’s time to wake up, and it becomes impossible for me to go back to sleep.

When I don't touch my phone, I almost always fall back asleep and wake up feeling so much better in the morning.

Experiment with it - give it a try. The next time you wake up in the middle of the night, don’t pick up your phone; close your eyes and let your mind and every muscle in your body relax. I bet you’ll fall back asleep.

It’s a matter of prioritizing rest and sleep. Many of the health issues we struggle with are rooted in stress. And stress comes in many forms, and the body doesn’t differentiate the different kinds of stressors we have; the physical response is the same.

When you rest, you care for your nervous system, allowing it to transition from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state.

So, stop hate following, put down your phone, and stop these energy leaks so you can stop feeling tired all the time.

As I close, I want to ask you, what other energy leaks do you have? Come over to the episode's show notes at www.livefablife.com/261 for Episode 261 or find me on Instagram at @livefablifewithnaomi and tell me so we can have more episodes on other energy leaks.

Let's talk and collectively share your other energy leaks and what you’re doing about them.

Thank you so much for sharing your time, attention, and energy with me today (and I hope it wasn’t an energy leak for you!)

See you next time!