10 Habits for (Almost) Limitless Energy: A Guide for Busy Professionals

Dr. Shafeeq Ahmed

Inspired by Prince Ea's talk "10 Habits for (Almost) Limitless Energy"

Most of us manage money carefully and manage energy carelessly. Yet energy decides everything else. You could have all the money and time in the world, but without the energy to use them, it's as if you never had them.

Think of each day as an energy bank account. Some habits make deposits and others make withdrawals. Junk food, draining people, endless sitting, and poor sleep all take a cut. Most professionals aren't short of talent or time. They're energy poor, and the modern workplace has made being tired seem normal. It shouldn't be.

Think Like an Athlete

The people with the most energy are athletes and children. Athletes have learned to manage their energy for a living. Every professional is an athlete too. An executive running between meetings, a founder balancing budgets, and a salesperson on the road all make constant demands on their bodies and minds. So we have to train, eat, and sleep like athletes.

The first step isn't adding more. It's stopping the leaks. Here are the ten habits, each one a fix for a common energy vampire.

Habit 1: Choose Your People Wisely

Energy is contagious. Stress, moods, and habits spread through teams the way a yawn spreads across a room. Some colleagues leave you feeling heavier after every conversation. Limit your time with them, and deliberately build a circle of people who energize you. As the talk puts it, "Hang out with rainbows, not drainbows."

At work: choose mentors, peers, and team members for their energy as well as their skills.

Habit 2: Get Out of the Chair

Long hours of sitting are linked to poorer health and shorter life, even in people who exercise. One study cited in the talk found that getting up every hour for just two minutes of light activity was linked to a 33% lower risk of early death.

At work: use a standing desk, stand up every hour, take calls while walking, and hold walking meetings.

Habit 3: Eat Real Food

Treat food as either energy-giving or energy-taking. The world's longest-lived communities eat real, simple food. A handy reminder is G-BOMBS: greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds, plus wild-caught fish.

Two habits fight the after-lunch slump:

• Eat until you're about 80% full (the Okinawan habit known as hara hachi bu).

• Take a 10-minute walk after meals to smooth out blood-sugar spikes.

Some people find intermittent fasting helpful. Start gently, for example, by eating only fruit before noon. If you have a medical condition or take medication, check with your doctor first.

Habit 4: Find Your Why

Purpose is one of the biggest energy sources there is. The Japanese call it ikigai: your reason to get out of bed. Viktor Frankl observed that the people who survived the concentration camps were often those who held on to a reason to live. As Nietzsche said, "He who has a why can bear almost any how."

At work: connect your daily tasks to a bigger purpose, whether that's customers served, a team grown, or a family supported. Motivated people tire less.

Habit 5: Get the Right Light

Light affects your energy. Natural light sets your body clock. Harsh, flickering artificial light all day can wear you down.

At work:

• Get morning sunlight within 30 to 60 minutes of waking, before you look at your phone.

• Sit near windows, and take short breaks outdoors.

• Dim screens and lights late at night.

• A simple rule: try to spend as much time outside as inside.

Habit 6: Protect Your Sleep

Sleep is the human charging station. If you fix only one thing, fix this. Short sleep shortens both lifespan and "healthspan," the years you live in good health. The talk notes that leaders famous for sleeping four or five hours a night later faced serious health problems.

Eight bedroom rules:

1. Use the bedroom only for sleep and intimacy, not work.

2. Keep it cool (about 16 to 19°C).

3. No TV in the bedroom.

4. Keep the phone out of the room, or switch it off and far from the bed.

5. Use blackout curtains.

6. Dim the lights in the evening.

7. Cover glowing LEDs on chargers and devices.

8. Invest in a good mattress, since you spend a third of your life on it.

Habit 7: Lighten Up and Play

Children laugh hundreds of times a day. The talk puts the adult average at just 15. As George Bernard Shaw said, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." Play and good humor make us think more flexibly and solve problems more creatively. In the talk's words, focus follows fun.

At work: laugh more, celebrate small wins, and don't let the pressure to win crowd out enjoying the work. An archer shooting for a gold prize often misses because the need to win distracts him.

Habit 8: Switch Off Stress

A zebra panics when a lion appears, then minutes later drinks calmly at the waterhole. Its stress switches on and then off. Modern professionals stay switched on all day. Worry, regret, and overthinking burn huge amounts of energy: a chess player in a tournament can burn thousands of calories without moving.

Two quick resets:

• Calm body, calm mind: sit or lie down and imagine your body as balloons slowly deflating from the feet upward. As the tension leaves, repeat "calm body, calm mind." With daily practice, you learn to relax on command.

• Humming-bee breath: Close your ears and eyes gently with your fingers and hum as you breathe out, 5 to 10 times. It calms the nervous system within minutes.

Habit 9: Move All Day

Exercise is the best thing you can do for your mitochondria, the parts of your cells that produce energy. But the best exercise is the one you enjoy. Two research-backed options:

• Zone 2 training: brisk walking or cycling at a pace where you can still talk, about 45 minutes, two to three times a week.

• Racket sports: badminton, tennis, or pickleball are linked to notable gains in longevity.

People in the world's longest-lived communities don't do intense gym workouts. They move all day: walking, gardening, and climbing hills. Constant movement beats occasional intense exercise.

Habit 10: Breathe From the Belly

Under stress, most of us take shallow chest breaths or even hold our breath, which keeps the body in fight-or-flight mode. Newborns breathe from the belly. Adults have to relearn it.

How to do it: breathe in through the nose so your belly expands, then breathe out fully so your belly pulls in. A long exhale is the fastest way to calm down. Remember: when you're in hell, exhale.

Supporting Habits

• Hydrate well. Even mild dehydration hurts focus. Keep a water bottle in sight. A pinch of salt or an electrolyte mix can help, especially if you sweat a lot. Coffee, alcohol, and soda mean you need more water.

• Check your basics. Low levels of vitamin D, B vitamins, magnesium, or iron are common causes of fatigue. Get tested and take supplements only on medical advice. You can't out-supplement a bad diet.

• Use the sauna occasionally. Small doses of "good stress" can build resilience, as long as you stay hydrated.

Your 7-Day Energy Starter Plan