Midlife Revolution Unleashed

If energy is currency, where are you investing?

• Stacy M. Lewis & Wayne Dawson • Season 3 • Episode 65

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What if the real bottleneck isn’t your calendar—it’s your energy? We explore a simple but game‑changing shift: time is finite, energy is renewable. When you protect and restore your energy, your schedule finally supports your life instead of running it. We get personal about those days when there’s time on the clock but nothing in the tank, then lay out practical moves to get back to steady, focused, and present.

We start with boundaries and the underrated power of no. From screening energy‑draining calls to using stand‑up conversations and office door etiquette, small guardrails protect your focus. We dig into delegation and prioritization—must‑dos, should‑dos, and nice‑to‑dos—so your attention lands where it creates real impact. You’ll learn how to spot energy vampires, run quick weekly audits, and reframe your workload around what aligns with your core values and goals.

Restoration gets tactical: power naps for those who can, short walks for oxygen and clarity, and two‑minute breathwork to reset your nervous system. We share how to protect white space on your calendar, match deep work to your natural energy peaks, and reserve low‑energy windows for admin. A simple daily check‑in—how am I, what do I need, one word for my energy—helps you adjust before the day runs away. We even explore how language, music, and self‑concept shape your state, and why directing energy toward joy compounds motivation over time.

If energy is currency, where are you investing? Use these strategies to cut noise, renew quickly, and put your best effort where it matters most. Subscribe for more tools for midlife clarity, courage, and confidence. If this resonated, share it with someone who needs an energy reset today and leave a review to help others find the show.

Subscribe @CoachStacyMLewis and @CoachWayneVIP

💃🏽Stacy M. Lewis
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🎩Wayne Dawson
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Coach Stacy:

Most of us have spent years learning how to manage our time. But here's the truth. You can manage your calendar, but do you know how to manage your energy? Time, after all, is finite, but energy is renewable. If you learn how to protect and restore it, let's talk about it.

Coach Wayne:

You found the midlife revolution unleashed, the space to embrace your wisdom, reignite your passions, and move boldly into what's next. I am Coach Wayne, the VIP coach.

Coach Stacy:

And I'm Coach Stacy M. Lewis. We're here with insights, stories, and strategies to fuel your midlife journey. So take a breath, lean in. Your revolution starts now. Hey, hey, hey!

Coach Wayne:

Hey, hey, hey. Lady Stacy, again, again, my esteemed pleasure and privilege to be with you on this platform for another Midlife Revolution on Leash.

Coach Stacy:

How are you, Stacey? The joy is mine. I am abundantly well, Coach Wayne. It is always a gift to be here. I'm Stacy M. Lewis, a midlife women's coach, a lover of God and his people, and a nonprofit executive. Wayne, introduce yourself to the people.

Coach Wayne:

They call me Coach Wayne, the VIP coach. Wayne Dawson is my name. And I work with black men helping them navigate midlife so that their second half can be their best half.

Coach Stacy:

Yep, yes, yes, yes. Well, we want to welcome you to the Midlife Revolution Unleash. This is your podcast where we help midlife professionals, entrepreneurs, and people step into clarity, courage, and confidence. And today, my co-host and I are talking about energy management. It's more powerful than time management and how you can reclaim both to live with greater purpose and present. Come on, Wayne, let's dive in.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, Stace, you know, I am actually a victim of this piece here because there are times when it seems to me that I have time on the clock, but what I don't have is the energy to get things moving. And so what I have been trying to do is to recoup or better conserve my energy so I can do better with the limited time that I have.

Coach Stacy:

This is going to be a really great conversation because I think often we're so focused on time. Do we have enough time? Do I have enough time? Do you have enough time? And we don't talk about energy. And before we dive in further, let's say good evening, good day, good afternoon to Bill Rochelle and to Delaney. It is always a pleasure to have you here on the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. So let's talk about time and energy, Wayne. Time and energy.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. Hey, Bill, Delane, and anyone else. Uh we're not seeing the folks on LinkedIn right now. But uh welcome. Great to see you all and Bill. You owe me a date, brother. We gotta get together and have some chow and some chat. All right. Uh yep. So, Stacey, the thing about energy is if you're not careful, others can drain you. You have what you call energy vampires, right? Folks who come in the room and take your energy. So, one of the ways that I am learning to manage my time better through managing the energy that I have to devote to that time is to create boundaries. Know what I mean?

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, yeah, very, very, very, very important. I mean, I think one thing about the clock is it establishes very clear boundaries. If you have 10 minutes, you have 10 minutes. The clock says you have 10 minutes, and that is the boundary. With energy, we don't do a good job of establishing the boundaries for our energy. So I love that you use the B-word um as we talk about um energy and recognizing that you know time is very clearly finite, yet our energy we can renew. And so we want to make sure that we begin to put healthy boundaries around it.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. In fact, Stacy, what typically happens is when we're working on a limit, a time limit, we sometimes just run out of gas. And as such, it's not that we need to extend the time, but we need to better manage or budget that energy. And one way to do that when we talked about boundaries, is believe it or not, a two-letter word that a lot of people hate, and that's no. We have to be able to say no, not just to the energy vampires who are soaking up our time and energy, but also to ourselves as we start budgeting how efficient we want to spend the time and energy.

Coach Stacy:

And we have to recognize that, you know, we're we're in a very unique, fruitful, productive season of our lives. We've amassed some responsibilities. We are managing other responsibilities. Uh, you know, we are caregiving, we're working, we're building businesses. There are many demands in that boundary of saying no to others and to yourself sometime, I believe, is definitely a healthy boundary, in particular when it comes to your energy, because our just daily activities of lives can really be more energy draining than we believe or even think about. And so it is really important to implement that no-word, to acknowledge boundaries when we're talking about energy, the fuel that you have to use the time wisely and how we can move through using that very wisely. And I think it's, you know, this a question we can often ask ourselves um is when did I have time, but realized I didn't have the energy? And I don't know about you, Wayne, but that happened to me recently. You know, recognizing it's the it's the weekend, it's Saturday, I don't have any real responsibilities, I don't have to be anywhere at any specific time, and yet recognize that wow, I really don't have the energy to do anything fun or exciting if I wanted to.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. Stacey, this is like so real and and so personal and dear to me, and I'll share uh very transparent. Uh last few days I was kind of down and just a lot happening, just overwhelmed with so many balls to juggle and keep in the air. And I was sleeping in, and typically I don't stay in that late. And it was like after nine, and my sis called me, my big sister Delane, and she said, Hey, why are you still down? And I was telling her, I was just sacked of energy and just wasn't feeling, you know, up to the call. She said, Hey, you gotta get up, gotta get out of that bed, open the blinds, get some sun, and perk up. And I'll tell you, the day was long and slow. And once I started pumping and moving around, Stacy, uh, it just seemed like there was things there were more things to do and accomplish. Uh, my efficiency certainly increased. So a lot of time we see a lull in our time span and we get fewer things accomplished because we need to perk ourselves up, you know, deep breathing, uh, take a walk, do some exercise, just prime the energy pump.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, yeah. We're gonna talk about um ways to identify energy dreams and then opportunities to renew, refresh, um, restore your strength, as the word says. We want to say goodnight to Sir Paul Randolph Newell. Hello. He said two potent resources. That's right, time and energy. That time, though, is finite. That energy is renewable. What up, my brotherful? From another mother. Well, I'm telling you, Wayne's guests are on fire tonight, right? Uh, Delane, we want to thank you for hopping in for a short time. And Bill said, definitely on the the two of you will connect. So y'all work that out. Let's go. In the meantime, let's get back to talking about energy. Let's talk about some energy drains, Wayne. Identifying energy drains.

Coach Wayne:

Well, one of the things that I caution uh my my clients to do is to find some alone time and energy drain can come where you least expect it. You know, you have some folks that are gonna call you just for a brief call, right? So you screen your calls, you gotta do that. People will call you in the middle of the day, in the middle of a project, and you can tell that these folks are not necessarily trying to be harmful or negative, but they can't speak in two words. You know, it's more like two hours. So when you pick up that phone, be prepared to be drained off both energy and time, and then you have the naysayers and you have the we call them energy vampires, Stacy, and you have the folks who start telling you about the politics of the day and everything that's going down the drain. Um, that really saps your energy, and the time looks very long when you're on that decline and kind of slope.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, you just talked about sucking up time and sucking up energy. So, like physical time, mental energy, right? It it is really acknowledging that things like that, that conversation. I got a big chuckle out of that because I can think of a couple of people. As soon as I say see their name on the phone, I'm like, A, this is gonna be a two-hour conversation, and B 70% of it I may not really care about. Yet I carve out the time because it's somebody that I love, and I have to be strategic about managing my energy in that, right? Am I fully focused? Probably not, but it's because I'm looking to manage my energy. So maybe I can just make some a to-do list while I'm listening and saying, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mmm.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. Stace, one of the things that I learned uh the hard way as a leader when I was with corporate was a lot of times I expend my energy wanting to get things done right. And that meant doing it myself. And I realized that that's one, it didn't empower my staff, but two, I was left on my back, exhausted. And so I had to learn the wonderful art of delegation. And I suggest to folks, and you know, if you have kids, you delegate at home too. You know, you sit down and you direct, just delegate. Everybody has a role. Uh that's right. That's right. If you're in the working environment, you have to delegate, and there are some strategies and tactics. One one that's very popular is the Einzowel uh delegation matrix. And and it's really just to say, what do you prioritize? You know, what's immediate, what's urgent and important, and so forth.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, it's uh it's uh a type of audit that you you just laid out, right? To really look at oneself and what's on the day's docket or the week's docket, and take a little inventory, do a little audit. What is coming up or what needs to happen that is fueling you? What needs to happen that might be draining you? How are you feeling right now? Where are you overgiving or over investing your time or your energy? And where are you being mindful, or where are the opportunities to be mindful of where you're investing your your energy? I think that those types of audits, asking ourselves the questions, seeing, um, is is so important to it really is about being intentional, about paying attention to ourselves, where we are at this very moment, what we need, and you know what we can then do differently. And delegation. I don't know about you, Wayne, but even as an entrepreneur, oftentimes we don't have people to delegate to. And I think that type of audit that you talked about gives us great opportunity to say, is this urgent? Does this need to happen now? Is it important? You know, is it a make or break, or is it a nice to have, but it can wait?

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, before I knew about the uh Eisenhower matrix for time management for uh delegation, an old colleagueslash mentor of mine many years ago said to me, his name was Randy, and he uh wrote the book on time management. And he says, Wayne, there are nice to-dos, must-do's and should do's. And so when you want to delegate, make sure that the nice to-do's don't make the list, because you know, that's just frivolous. Get the must-do's up front, uh, and the should do's can take a nice second. And so that was one of the ways that he categorized his own day to get some efficiency with his energy and his time.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I think that those are excellent categories for um a quick inventory, right? Um, to just really look quickly at what you need to expend your energy on and what's optional. And before you jump in, Wayne, let's say goodnight to Judy Brown. Welcome, Judy Brown. Judy Brown downtown. Welcome, Judy, to Midlife Revolution Unleashed. Let's talk, Wayne, about options, ways, strategies um to restore our energy. We talked about ways to identify some of the energy drains and the difference between time and energy. And now let's talk a little bit about restoring energy, right? People want to know what I can do to make it better.

Coach Wayne:

I'll tell you what I did today, and it was accidental, not intentional, but when the body calls it, calls it. But I used to do this from time to time. And if you're like working from home, uh, or if you're I know people who take their lunch break and go in their car and take a little napsey napcy. Um, a power nap. One of the ways that you can restore your energy is a power nap. Uh, I used to do a lot of cross-state driving, and you know, was introduced to Red Bull. And of course, that's no good. Uh, I hate to say it that way for the folks who are promoting, but I found out that when I gave up Red Bull, because it used to tear up my stomach, um, I would pull up in a service station, you know, clear and and open, and just take 15 to 20 minutes, set my alarm, and that would renew me to make the time pass on the road, you know, more alertly.

Coach Stacy:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. No, I think that that's an excellent example and a reminder that what may work for one may not work for other. Wayne and I are here to add value and give you some options and opportunities to restore your energy, uh only because I don't nap well. And so one of the ways that I restore um my energy is through some just alone time, right? Taking a couple of breaths, stepping away from the desk, maybe it's walking the dog, you know how I feel about my dog, and um just acknowledging, you know, kind of what I'm feeling or what I'm experiencing, or not paying attention to any of that and really just enjoying being in the present, outside, fresh air, like that.

Coach Wayne:

I got one for you, Stacey. I also do this thing, which is, you know, again, energy trainous. People, you're having a meeting, right? And it may not even be a called formal meeting on the calendar, but people walk into your office. It's always a good idea to stand up and meet them at the door. Don't stay seated. In other words, stand up. That way you can walk to the door, which which really is your walking them out, right? To save your time and energy. Yes. So do stand-up meetings rather than have people sit down and get settled. And uh, or or instead of having people come in your office, meet them in their office so that you know you can call it and get out when you can rather than have folks just come in. Uh, those are little tricks.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I I I like a little trick. And and and Judy is saying she's still working and needing some energy. So we indeed hope that some of these tips are blessing your soul. Um, you know, another opportunity uh for restoring energy is to protect space on your calendar. If you have the opportunity and you see, like maybe the morning is full of meetings, is there an opportunity to block out, literally block out an hour on your calendar, right? Protect that white space, that black space, that digital space, whatever, however you maintain your calendar, to say, this is time to renew my energy, to not be pouring out um energy, but to really be restoring, renewing energy.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, I was tricky, Stacy. Another trick that I used in in terms of working with folks was you know, you have an optimum time frame to your point when you are at your best. And that's usually not after lunch, right? After lunch, we get the itis. So what we do is you don't want to have your serious focused meetings when your energy is low. And also for a lot of folks, you don't want to have a meeting lasting Friday when people are thinking about getting out and the energy is tabbed. What you want to do is look at the optimal time when energy is at its peak to have your most focused, intensive sort of meetings or the harder ones. Um, I would say if you want to respond to emails and call back folks, you do that when your energy level is low. But when you got to do major projects or you have deadlines, you do that either first thing or when the energy is at its highest.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I love it. You have to be, you have to pay attention to yourself, right? Know who you know who you are, know when those energy highs and lows are in your typical day. And if you don't, it's okay. This is your permission to pay attention to yourself, to your energy, and how you feel throughout the day and begin to track those patterns and acknowledge, like, oh, it looks like you know, that that 8 to 12 zone in the morning, that's that's my jam, that's my time. I am kicking it. And then by 2 to 4:30, it's it's a wrap. Don't ask me anything. Um then some of us get a little boost at 5 because we know, like, okay, this thing is about to wrap up. So really pay attention to yourself, be intentional about acknowledging, about checking in with yourself. Um, one of the things that I I used and I talked with Wayne about this in the green room, is uh a two to three minute daily check-in with myself. Really, I I call it a well-being check-in, but it is just a daily check-in. How am I doing right now? What do I need? Do I have the energy through the day for the rest of the day, or do I need to do something to adjust my energy for what I see is on my calendar ahead? Um, and you do so, you do this this daily well-being check-in with intention, with purpose. You know, I want to pay attention, more attention to how my energy is going. You can choose a time every day, you know, and maybe it's even in the car on your way to work or to your office or the grocery store. Uh, really, you know, how am I feeling right now? What is the energy level? And maybe what's one word that would describe my energy level right now? Is it flatline or is it mountaintop?

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. Stay still the folks that are on right now. I have to know personally, uh, have a strategy and that Paul Paul is a uh a health and wellness guru, and he teaches yoga. And and typically when Paul and I would have these chats, uh, he would be doing it during his lunch break, taking a walk. And so that's one way is that he got his energy up by just taking a walk. And I think that's a wonderful idea, you know. Uh and Dia, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, big up to Dia! Woo! Dia uh does yoga throughout the day when she's working from home. So there's and that's all good because what you're doing, what Paul and Dia is accomplishing, is sending more brain power by giving themselves oxygen. Oxygenating yourself is gonna allow you to feel more energized. And so, Judy, as you're working through the night, you might want to take a break, do you do some deep breathing, you know. Uh, one thing you can do is breathe in deeply in your abdomen, hold it for four, exhale and do what we call square breathing. Inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four through the mouth and keep doing that. And uh you'll feel a little lightheaded sometimes, but your energy will certainly begin to jump back up.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I I think sometimes it's as easy as standing up, right? If you've been sitting down for a long time and your energy is way low, uh you know, stand up, walk around your room, your kitchen, your living room, your office, the whatever it is, um, to really just do a little reset. Um, there's really great opportunity in your day without, you know, taking building a brand new habit that's gonna take you 35 minutes. Being intentional about checking in on yourself is simple, and you have more opportunity than you realize.

Coach Wayne:

And says one more thing we ought to talk about, and we touched on words last time, the power of language and words. You want to use, you know, an experiment was done sometime ago in a nursing home. And what they did was they expose uh one group of the group to words that were youthful words, young words, and the other to aged and and words related to the elderly. And what they noticed when they had a break was that those that were in the group that had the elderly images and words actually walked slower with a more lean gait. So, in terms of your energy, you know, listen to music and beats that pump words of empowerment and energy into you. And uh, you know, that's the same that you can do in terms of the affirmations that you have for yourself.

Coach Stacy:

Absolutely. I love that tie-in. And, you know, another thing we're we're planning to talk about uh in a future episode is that self-concept, right? Take a look at your self-concept. And are you really spending your energy on outdated roles or activities that no longer are in alignment with who you are now? I was talking with um a dear friend who recently lost her father after a long illness. And all of her energy during that long illness had been spent in the running around, the running back and forth, the talking to doctors, all of that. And she then realized after her dad passed away and she began to go through her grieving process that she was still carrying that energy of like, oh, I have to go, oh, I need to call, oh, I and realize that, oh, this is now a different season. And I get to assess how what energy is needed, and how I can begin to apply that to the current uh season in my life. And so I think really looking at ourselves and our self-concept and what's real now is a great way to direct our energy toward what matters.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, and Stacy, you know, time is as we say, finite or fixed, and energy is uh, as it were, transferable. And so that's a better way of managing our time by taking charge of our energy, uh reclaiming our joy and our focus and our fulfillment of life, especially this midlife that we are blessed with.

Coach Stacy:

Absolutely. You talked about um, and you've said this before, that um, you know, energy is currency, right? And if energy is currency, we have to really look at how we are investing it, how we are spending it, and are we directing it in the way that matters most, that really um expands or makes the most significant impact. Um, so these are really just Ways to begin to direct your energy towards what matters.

Coach Wayne:

Let's give some takeaways for you as you're listening in, things that you can do right now to change the way you manage your energy, thus your time. One thing that we recommend that you do is that you make sure you look at your values. What's important, what are your core values? And if you're doing something that does not align with your values, then chop it. Guess the chopping block, get rid of it, right?

Coach Stacy:

That's right. That's right. I think another uh add-on to that is if you find that you are constantly doing something that is not necessarily bringing you joy, that is not necessarily fueling you or some part of your next, some part of your work, some part of your home life, some part of your business. Um, think about that because what you want to do is reclaim your joy, that's where the energy is going to really become more and more abundant, not in those things that drain, but in those things that bring you joy.

Coach Wayne:

And Stace, you don't have to do it all by yourself. So figure out what on your things to do this coming week or this weekend that you can delegate or just you know get out of the way, have somebody else get in and get it done. There's gotta be something. Absolutely. Let it go and let it be.

Coach Stacy:

Let it go, let it be. And if you can't delegate it, ask yourself is it really that important? Um, you know, maybe there's nothing you can delegate, but maybe there's something you can eliminate. That's right. Get rid of it. Gotta go. Got to go.

Coach Wayne:

So, Stacey, uh how can the good folks listening in get some of that Stacy coaching vibe?

Coach Stacy:

Stacy coaching. Stacy coaches. Stacy is always happy to talk, uh, always offering a complimentary coaching session to midlife women. Because the reality is that to your point, Wayne, we were not built to do this alone. And sometime there's a moment in our lives that we need some support, some accountability, and a power partner to help us move into our next season. So I can be reached on these social channels and at the stacymlewis.com.

Coach Wayne:

And you know to find the VIP coach, right? That's me. Just DM me from whatever channel you're now listening in or tuning in from, or visit my site VIP Transformative Living.com. All my channels are there. Give me a holla.

Coach Stacy:

Holla. We certainly want to say that we appreciate you being an important part of the Midlife Revolution Unleashed family. You are the revolution. I am cheering you on. And I'll see you at the top. Bye for now. Thanks for tuning in to Midlife Revolution Unleashed. We're grateful you're part of this journey.

Coach Wayne:

If you love this episode, share it, subscribe, and hit that notification bell so you don't miss another episode.

Coach Stacy:

I'm Coach Stacy, and I'm cheering you on.

Coach Wayne:

And I'm Coach Wayne, and I'll see you at the top.

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