PDF Summary:Energize, by Simon Alexander Ong

Our personal energy is a force that affects every aspect of our lives. It’s also infectious, influencing other people’s moods and behaviors. In Energize, Simon Alexander Ong suggests that harnessing your energy is the key to achieving your most ambitious goals. Your energy determines whether you perform at your best, make good decisions, and achieve what you want—and making the most of your energy is something Ong says that anyone can learn.

Ong is a life coach and entrepreneur with a background in finance and public speaking. In this guide, we’ll explain how to maintain your energy through healthier living and nonstop learning. We’ll discuss how to direct your energy with a positive mindset and a vision for the future. Additionally, we’ll flesh out Ong’s advice with tips from experts on wellness, motivation, productivity, and success, while highlighting points on which other writers present alternate views.

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Replenish Your Reserves

Before you start to get the impression that you should be energetic all of the time, Ong says that’s far from the truth. Instead, you should think of your energy as a valuable resource that must be carefully managed. You do this by giving yourself time to relax, avoiding doing things that will pointlessly drain you, and cultivating relationships that give you energy instead of taking it away.

First, Ong writes that it’s important to know how your energy fluctuates throughout the day. You may already be aware of your patterns, but you should still track your day’s highs and lows so you can schedule your most important tasks for when your energy peaks. You should also schedule breaks, since daily life will often find ways to distract you from relaxing. Ong is in favor of using your breaks to clear your mind instead of seeking further distractions like the internet. It’s when your mind is at its most quiet that your best ideas can bubble to the surface. Quiet time also lets your energy recover—whether you’re strolling through a park or meditating in your office. Like sleep at night, breaks during the day are vital to staving off energy exhaustion.

(Shortform note: Though people’s energy patterns are roughly similar, every person’s is unique to some extent. In When, Daniel H. Pink explains that over the course of a day, most people experience a predictable energy pattern—a crest, a slump, and a recovery. While this pattern is universal, the time of day that the pattern begins varies depending on your chronotype—the individual expression of your body’s rhythm. There are three common chronotypes: morning people, night owls, and those whose schedule falls somewhere in between. Knowing your chronotype will give you greater insight into your daily rhythm, so you can plan effectively for your highs and lows as Ong suggests.)

Ong says that as important as it is to know your energy cycles, you also need to determine what takes energy away from you and set up barriers against it. In today's world, your energy is constantly under attack by distractions such as emails, phone calls, meetings, to-do lists, and a barrage of social expectations. All these things can siphon energy from you at times when you need it most, so you may have to set up deliberate walls—turning off your phone, closing your office, and scheduling time for uninterrupted focus. The hardest part may be learning to turn down requests from friends, family, and colleagues that will take you away from pursuing your goals. You can set boundaries gracefully, but nevertheless, they should be firm.

(Shortform note: Many of the modern world’s energy drains aren’t accidental—they were designed that way. The information industry has fine-tuned its tactics to steal your energy to such a degree that it takes a concerted effort to resist. In Make Time, Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky suggest ways to protect your energy from digital media, some of which may seem draconian. For example, they recommend deleting all social media apps and even your email from your phone. Don’t respond to emails until the end of the day, and severely curtail your TV habits. Like Ong, Knapp and Zeratsky also recommend learning to say no to other people’s requests, and they even suggest rehearsing a script for saying no if you find it hard to do.)

Surround Yourself With Energy

While many things steal your energy, Ong argues that strong, beneficial relationships give you energy in abundance. For instance, you should engage with high-achieving people in your field, such as entrepreneurs or innovative thinkers who’ll challenge you to reach beyond your comfort zone and elevate your ambitions. However, be careful not to surround yourself with people who think just like you do. Instead, when building your personal network, seek a wide range of perspectives—people with different backgrounds bring different types of energy into your life, whereas conformity adds nothing fresh. Be sure that you contribute energy back to your network, because the energy you offer will call out to those with energy to match.

(Shortform note: In The Motivation Myth, Jeff Haden suggests practical steps to making the best of Ong’s advice. He suggests that you pick a high-achieving professional to emulate, study how they achieved their goals, and determine the steps they took. You can also join a group such as a professional organization that will put you in touch with many people whose personal experiences you can draw from. Once you’ve become part of a community of people working toward similar goals, you’ll not only have access to experts to learn from, but you’ll also have found an invaluable network of support to motivate you along your path.)

Beyond the quality of your personal connections, Ong stresses that loving, supportive relationships significantly contribute to your sense of energy and your personal growth, citing research that shows that a healthy relationship, particularly with a spouse or partner, is the best predictor of overall life satisfaction. People with supportive partners are more likely to recognize and follow opportunities, leading to greater success and happiness. Putting your energy into nurturing a loving relationship with someone who reciprocates in kind creates an environment filled with positive energy that will extend to all the other aspects of your life.

(Shortform note: Though Ong promotes the value of traditional romantic relationships, those aren’t the only type of personal connections you can use to bring energy into your life. In The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama points out that “intimacy” takes so many forms that you can—and should—establish many types of intimate relationships with many different people. For instance, you can forge a relationship with a friend that’s based on your common interests, or an intimate relationship with a fellow parent based on your shared experience of raising children. The Dalai Lama asserts that we’re all dependent on others for our well-being and that we need interactions with others to make us happy.)

Direct Your Energy

So far, we’ve discussed where your energy comes from, how you can increase it, and how you can manage it. Now we’ll explore how you can use it to chase your dreams and live a more satisfying life. Ong writes that you begin by vividly picturing the life you’d like to have and then change the obstacles in your way into stepping stones. In doing so, you can also energize people around you, helping others live better lives through the examples you set and the connections you make on your path to achieving your goals.

Envision Your Future

The first step on your path to success is to define for yourself what success will look like. Without a clear goal in mind to guide you, your energy will be directionless, no matter how well you cultivate it. Ong discusses the importance of clarifying your goal, how to turn your dreams into an actionable plan, and how to frame your feelings toward wealth if that is part of what you’re trying to achieve.

Ong argues that having a specific, long-term vision lets you focus your energy, overcome obstacles, and attract opportunities. He cites many examples from the field of sports, where imagining your goal before achieving it is a standard practice for winning athletes. People who regularly use this practice show that mental imagery can enhance your performance and create a sense that achieving seemingly impossible feats can be done. One way to create such a vision for yourself is to imagine meeting an old acquaintance at some date several years in the future and describing to them everything you’ve achieved in the intervening time.

(Shortform note: One athlete who fully embodies Ong’s advice about visualizing your future is Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, in Be Useful, Schwarzenegger points out that the goals you envision will change over time. In his own life, he visualized himself as a bodybuilding champion, which he then saw as a springboard to acting in films. But once he’d made his initial dreams real, Schwarzenegger envisioned using his influence to make a positive impact through a political career. Schwarzenegger argues that while you should create a clear vision for your future, you should never view that goal as a stopping point. Instead, you should think of it as a peak from which you’ll be able to see the next mountain you should climb.)

Though important, having a dream for your future won’t get you far without a plan. Ong relates how a survey of college graduates revealed that thinking through your goals and writing down how you’ll achieve them has a huge impact on long-term success. Therefore, to make your dreams achievable, set aside regular time for self-reflection and strategic planning. If the steps toward your goals aren’t clear at first, Ong offers a variation on brainstorming to guide you—but instead of trying to come up with solutions, think up as many questions as you can, such as “What are your talents? What are your obstacles? What strengths can you develop? Who can help you?” Answering these questions will help you chart your course of action.

(Shortform note: Ong’s ideas offer a place to begin, but to create a more detailed plan of action, consider following the steps outlined by Jack Canfield in The Success Principles. Canfield says that when writing your goals down, you should phrase them in a way that’s quantifiable within a realistic time frame so that you can measure whether you’ve achieved them. You should then do the research to make a reasonable plan, including consulting experts, reading books and articles on your field of interest, and taking formal classes if possible. If needed, you can reverse-engineer your process—visualize your desired end result and work backward to determine the sequence of steps you’ll have to take to achieve it.)

A Word on Wealth

It may be that part of your vision for the future involves being rich, or at least well-off financially. Ong says that’s perfectly normal, but you need to understand that money can bring energy to your life, or it can take it away. For sure, a degree of financial security can give you peace of mind, but having money doesn’t necessarily free you from the perils of managing it. Ong illustrates this with studies of lottery winners who, since they have no purpose for their money, spend every penny and end up worse off than before. That’s why you need to have a financial plan—so that money can act as a tool to reach your goals and lets you direct your energy purposefully instead of distracting you from your true ambitions.

(Shortform note: The Master Guides: Cultivate an Empowering Money Mindset offers guidance from a wide range of authors on how to reshape the energy Ong says you bring to dealing with personal finances. In essence, your money mindset is a construct made up of all of your beliefs regarding money, many of which you may be unaware of. Nevertheless, your mindset programs you to think and behave in ways that may be positive or negative toward your financial health. Since negative beliefs undermine your relationship with money, you can only improve your financial situation by replacing old ideas with new ones. This requires realigning your attitude toward money and creating a positive cycle of reward to reinforce more empowering beliefs.)

Ong argues that beyond developing good financial habits, you must have a clear purpose for the money you make. Therefore, as part of your plan for the future, you need to determine why you want to make money. If you do, then earning wealth will bring energy to your process and give a concrete direction to your financial decisions. However, if you harbor negative views about “getting rich” while simultaneously trying to better your finances, this mental misalignment of your energy toward money can lead you to subconsciously sabotage your progress. If financial freedom is necessary for your ambitions, then you need to make peace with the concept of wealth and accept “living the good life” as part of your plan.

(Shortform note: The belief that Ong pushes against is that pursuing wealth is a sign of moral bankruptcy and greed, but people don’t believe that without reason. In their memoirs, The Wolf of Wall Street and Liar’s Poker, Jordan Belfort and Michael Lewis both attest that the pursuit of wealth can bring out the worst in people. Lewis describes how the Wall Street firm he worked for indoctrinated its recruits to believe that finance was a cutthroat business where manipulation, abuse, and subterfuge were the tools of the trade. Likewise, Belfort writes that his purpose for money was to indulge every fantasy and whim. Both memoirs show how negative energy combined with greed leads to extravagant riches, followed by dramatic financial losses.)

Adopt a Positive-Energy Mindset

While you’re envisioning what you want to achieve, you also need to think about what’s standing in your way. Ong suggests that our biggest obstacles are self-inflicted mental blocks that we put in the way of our own energy. To get around these blocks—or remove them entirely—you need to adjust how you think about yourself, learn to see failures as stepping stones to growth, and persist through any challenges and fears that may be slowing your progress.

When it comes to directing your energy, mental barriers are more serious than you think. Ong argues that we behave in accordance with our self-perceptions, and our beliefs create our reality. Therefore, any negative self-beliefs you have will manifest in how the world reacts around you. To counter this, Ong writes that you need to identify and challenge your self-limiting beliefs and replace them with more empowering ones. You can do this step-by-step through journaling to root out and reexamine your beliefs, countering them with positive self-talk to boost how your energy expresses itself. Speaking to yourself with compassion and encouragement will shift your energy and your outlook on what you can achieve.

(Shortform note: Unveiling and replacing long-held beliefs isn’t easy. They were likely shaped by your childhood, the people around you, and your lifetime of experiences.In Goals, Brian Tracy sets out a process to address them as Ong recommends. First, assess any areas where you believe your abilities are limited and ask friends or family to help point out your blind spots. Next, choose only the beliefs that will help you and make sure your actions going forward are consistent with your new conceptions. Lastly, keep engaging in visualization—picture the person you want to become, then act as if you’re already there.)

But do self-affirmations really work? Ong says “absolutely.” By consistently repeating positive statements, you realign your brain toward success and happiness, raising your energetic levels in the process. In addition to adopting positive beliefs about yourself, Ong goes a step further and suggests you adopt the belief that the world itself is working to help you—an attitude that will help you maintain your positive energy and overcome obstacles. Even if such a belief isn’t literally true, a hopeful outlook on life can be a strong placebo, and psychologists have demonstrated the near-miraculous power of the placebo effect to better people’s lives and make the seemingly impossible come true.

The Power of Energy Attraction and Placebos

Ong discusses positive energy’s “frequencies and vibrations” in terms very close to those of Vex King in Good Vibes, Good Life. King asserts that thoughts and feelings have vibrational frequencies, and that positive thoughts have higher vibrations that attract more positivity back to you. Scientists insist that’s not how vibrational energy works and point to the misuse of scientific jargon to add credibility to pseudoscientific mood-boosting practices. In Happy, philosopher and magician Derren Brown takes particular umbridge with “law of attraction” proponents who suggest that your thoughts attract the things you want, arguing that they overpromise on results while downplaying the importance of random chance.

Nevertheless, it may not matter if believing that positive mental energy attracts good things is irrational. In Alchemy, Rory Sutherland argues that since people are fundamentally irrational anyway, then irrational—and even magical—thinking can offer paths to creative solutions to modern-day problems. Science has shown that human perception differs from objective reality, so believing in the power of positivity can change your perception of reality more easily than you can change reality itself. This shift in perception triggers the placebo effect that Ong mentions, and Sutherland argues that placebos work even if you know they’re placebos. Therefore, positive belief can be very effective, even if not for all the reasons Ong cites.

However, no matter how hard you wish against it, life will throw hardships and curveballs in your way. Ong suggests that this isn’t a bad thing, because obstacles and challenges can be transformed into sources of energy and growth. If you keep an open, positive mindset, you’ll recognize that every problem or failure contains a hidden gem of opportunity that you might turn to your advantage, if only by learning to overcome it. What’s important is to focus on what you can control, which is largely your own response to events. If you respond in a way that’s self-empowering, then what greater boost could your energy receive than the knowledge that you faced adversity and beat it?

(Shortform note: Though “stoicism” may not be the first concept you think of in association with Ong’s positive energy, the approach he describes here is very much in line with the writings of the ancient Stoic philosopher Epictetus. In his Discourses, Epictetus argues that hardships are opportunities to become stronger and to prove yourself. Avoiding them is actually bad for you—it cheats you out of the chance to grow. What matters is that you don’t waste energy assigning blame for your misfortunes, and that you think before you act in response. Epictetus suggests that when something goes wrong, imagine that it’s happening to someone else instead. Consider what advice you’d give to that other person, then try to follow that advice yourself.)

Persistence and Action

Ong reiterates that you’ll inevitably run into challenges on your way toward success. Optimizing your energy can help you persist through hardships and adapt to meet your struggles. Doing so doesn’t just help you reach your goals, but it also transforms your identity and self-perception. When you’re able to overcome your fears and persist beyond what you thought were your limits, you’re not only building momentum—you’re also learning your true motivations for pursuing your ultimate goals. The struggles you face as you do the daily work to move closer to your dream help to clarify why your ambitions are worth the effort.

What’s important is that you take action toward your goals instead of waiting for the perfect time to begin. Ong insists that even small, consistent steps lead to progress over time. Don’t fall for the common misconception that you have to be an expert before putting your energy into your dream, whether that’s writing a novel, starting a business, or bucking for a promotion. What we rarely realize is that everyone else is learning as they go as much as we are.

Action First, Motivation Second

Persistence, motivation, and getting started toward your goals may be even more interconnected than Ong suggests, and in a different way than most of us realize. In The Motivation Myth, Jeff Haden presents the perspective that counter to what most of us believe, motivation comes after we take action, not before. According to Haden, motivation is the momentum that keeps you moving forward through a repeating, self-energizing cycle. That energy comes as a physiological response in your brain’s reward center that sets up a positive feedback loop with every small victory you make.

Haden agrees with Ong that you shouldn’t wait for the “perfect moment” to start working toward your aspirations, but he does insist that you prepare before taking your initial leap. To succeed, you must first design a program that will help you build the momentum you’ll need to accomplish your objectives. Preparation will give you the energy boost to cross your first hurdles, after which, the small, consistent steps Ong recommends will fuel your motivation to keep going. Once you get over that initial hump, it’s much easier to keep moving forward.

When trying something new, you’re bound to be nervous, but Ong says you can use your fear to drive your progress, rather than letting it be a barrier. Maintain your positive-energy mindset, and you’ll be surprised what new chances the world will bring your way.

(Shortform note: In The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone agrees with Ong that fear can be a good motivator, though beyond presenting it as mere “nervous jitters,” Cardone says that fear can indicate that you’re on the right track and that you’re pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. Embracing fear enables you to do new things and grow, but Cardone also says to be careful—the longer you let fear build up, the stronger it becomes. Instead of letting that happen, Cardone recommends immediately doing the thing you’re apprehensive about, because the only thing that will banish fear is action.)

Energize Those Around You

Ong concludes by returning to the idea that energy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Just as you’re energized by the people in your life, so too is the world affected by the energy you have to offer. For that reason, Ong says you should deeply consider how your energy can benefit others and in what way the energy you bring to the world will linger into posterity.

Even the small things we do can be significant to those we interact with. For this reason, Ong argues that everyone has the ability to help others, regardless of what’s going on in your life. In the end, your energy is your most valuable possession, and what better use for it could there be than to elevate the world and lives around you? How to do this runs the gamut from being an energizing leader in your workplace or community to simply showing kindness to a person in need. Ong insists that by giving energy to others, you gift yourself with a sense of joy and fulfillment that keeps your positive energy flowing.

(Shortform note: Schwarzenegger makes a similar point in Be Useful, which he frames in the context of the modern-day myth that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” Some people believe that one person's success means someone else's loss, but Schwarzenegger insists that the opposite is true—that every step you take forward is made possible by someone else's assistance, so achieving your dreams is a collective effort that you’re morally obliged to repay in kind. When you help others—whether in your career, as part of a hobby, or working with those in need—it creates a positive feedback cycle that benefits everyone involved.)

Ong asserts that how you direct your energy every day shapes your personal future and the way that others will remember you. To this end, your past doesn’t matter as much as what you’re doing now and where your energy is going. Ong suggests you reflect on how people might think about you when you’re gone. The point of this exercise isn’t to be morbid, but to help you be aware of the distance between who you are at present and who you’d like to be. The energy that you give back to the world is what will let you cross that distance, so let go of the negative beliefs and influences that are holding you back and let your positive energy flow in a way that lets you and those around you feel more alive.

(Shortform note: Thinking about your mortality doesn’t have to be an energy drain. After all, it’s a positive thought that what your energy sets in motion will continue after you’re gone. In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell advises that you plan for this—consider your sense of purpose, strengths, opportunities, and whom you might be able to impact. Maxwell says to decide on your legacy early in life so you can set it in motion while you’re able to do so. Remember that your legacy isn’t about what you accomplished as much as it’s about the work you began that others will continue, adding their energy to your initial spark.)