The Ten Energy Area Explained

Much research has gone into determining what are the commonalities between the different longest living and happiest cultures in the world and what we can learn from them. The main assumption underpinning this concept is that longevity and happiness also relates to energy and is deemed to be successful living. The Energy Audit is designed to explore how you personally are doing against these well established criteria of successful living. It is from this research that the Ten Energy Areas have been developed. Common traits amongst these successful cultures are no sense of retirement, well developed social interaction, strong family ties, a clear community focus, daily exercise, an abundance of vegetables in the diet, clear male and female roles, constant communication within the community and a strong dedication to the success of the entire group.

1. Attitude
Attitudes are your approach to life and people, whether you approach each day with a sense of awe and excitement, or with dread, whether you are optimistic or pessimistic. Values are the morals, ethics, standards, principles and qualities that you believe are important in life. They may include schools of beliefs from specific political, social, spiritual or religious domains or simply be a mixture you have settled on.

2. Health
Health constitutes the critical blend of physical, nutritional, chemical and psychological influences on your personal well being. When considering both your Value Importance scale and Energy Input rating it is useful to refer to these four aspects of Health when assessing your perspective and performance. Health is a broad and encompassing term and is intimately tied to the Mind(3) Energy Area.

3. Mind
Mind is essentially your psychological state of health, balance and perspective. Critical to everyone’s state of Mind is their ability to manage and dispel emotional, chemical and physical stress. Intimately tied to Health, it is important to explore your daily activities and practices that contribute to your state of Mind when examining your Energy Input.

4. Work
Work is your career, contracts, job or projects that constitute the major source of your proactive income. It does not refer to passive investments, unless they are derived from your core abilities surrounding your work life. A simple investment in the stock market whilst holding down an alternate full-time, part-time or casual job, does not fall into the Work Energy Area. An investment such as this needs to be considered in the Money (7) Energy Area below.

5. Family
Family covers both your nuclear and extended family if you so chose. A typical nuclear family consists of a combination of mothers, fathers, siblings, wives, husbands and children. Given that current social trends are moving away from such traditional models, it may be helpful to think of these nuclear family people as symbolic roles that are filled by different people that do not necessary have a title. Your extended family typically consists of relatives outside of the nuclear group but are still considered close to you. Your family may only consist of friends or distant relatives, it up to you to define it.

6. Learning, Development & Hobbies
Learning reflects the areas of your life that further your intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical self through challenging and evolving your current state. Often these activities are extremely enjoyable and consequently are not recognised for their crucial contribution to your Energy. Given that it is well accepted that the human brain does not come with complete set of instructions or completely installed software, but rather develops overtime according to our experiences, beliefs and exposures, this Energy Area is a significant contributor to your Energy.

7. Money
Finances are your current financial state, planning and sense of fiscal satisfaction. It is heavily contributed to by your Work (4) Energy Area, but not solely dependent upon it, due to the myriad of investment options and strategic planning that can occur. Your choices around Money can be divided into four discrete aspects for your consideration – Earning, Planning, Spending and Investing. It is important to frame your Energy Input within these four aspects when considering your perspective and performance in this particular Energy Area.

8. Social
Social is your interaction with your friendship groups, which may be derived from a cross section of your work, family, learning and development areas of life. Socialising with friends is typically a key contributor to self awareness, broadening your perspective and a feeling of inclusiveness. By socially interacting you typically feel validated and feel that you have a place in the world. How much time you spend communicating, organising, planning and participating in social interactions should be considered when rating your Energy Input.

9. Community
Community is the encompassing term relating to your contribution back to society at large and your local community. It does not necessarily reflect the amount of volunteer work, social work or foreign child sponsorship that you do. Your contribution to society may be significant through the simple fulfillment of your Work (4) Energy Area because it happens to be aligned with societal interest and benefit. Personal legacy also falls into this Energy Area, and your social, political, economic and spiritual imprint that you have left and will leave on your community should be considered when framing your perspective and performance here.

10. Relationship
Relationship is intended to represent your chosen life partner or the opportunity for you to have a life partner. Obviously, the traditional interpretation is your husband or wife, but clearly these roles are far less rigid in today’s society. If you do not have a partner then rate the Value Importance you personally place on having a life partner and how much Energy Input you do in order to allow yourself to be open to, and prepared for, a relationship. It is important to differentiate between your actual partner and the partnership itself in this Energy Area, as the Energy Audit is only concerned with the relationship, not the person whom you have it with.