Why your energy has nothing to do with your performance
“Boosting energy" is a trap. Here's the metric you should be tracking instead.
I like Dr. Trevor Kashey because he’s violent with words and sets me straight—fast and often. You might remember him from my book, The Comfort Crisis. He’s the super genius who held down chapter 14.
Case in point, I was recently complaining to him that I was having a “low energy” day.
Me: I have low energy today.
Trevor: ‘Energy.’ WTF does that even mean?
Me: Um … (searching for words) … I feel um …
Trevor: Let me stop you. Did you write the same number of words you usually do today?
Me: Yes. Maybe more.
Trevor: So then why would these vague feelings of ‘low energy’ matter if your output is the same or better?
Me: Fair enough.
His point was that we talk about energy like it’s a real, measurable thing. We say things like I did: “I don’t have energy today,” or “I need more energy.”
We also spend a lot of money on things that claim to boost energy: supplements, diets, biohacks, etc.
But Dr. Kashey says most of what we call “energy” is just a vague label we slap onto sensations. And those sensations are often terrible predictors of what we actually produce.
Acting by “energy” can steer us wrong. That’s the part that matters.
Today you’ll learn:
Why “energy” is a scientifically meaningless term.
How “energy” became a big marketing term used to sell you things you don’t need.
Why we often confuse stimulation (heart rate, anxiety) with actual capability.
Why getting clear about energy can help you feel better and get more done.
The best way to accomplish more (no vague ideas of “energy” required).
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Let’s roll …
The marketing of energy
The wellness world loves the word energy. You see it in bestselling diet books that claim to “boost energy.” Or supplements that promise “sustained energy.” Or techno-wellness language like “dopamine optimization” to boost energy.
The reason the term is everywhere is rather simple: It’s vague enough to promise something good but impossible to actually measure. “It’s scientistic hand-waving,” Kashey told me.
This is important because people confuse stimulation for capability.
Caffeine, for example, makes you feel highly stimulated—more alert, higher heart rate, etc—but it doesn’t always lead you to produce more, measurable work. “We get perceptions of benefits more than we get actual benefits,” Dr. Kashey said.
This confusion is the entire business model of the modern energy-industrial complex.
If we can’t trust our feelings to guide performance, what should we trust?
In the rest of this letter, we’ll explore:
The fascinating disconnect between how you feel and your performance—and what to measure instead.
How to identify the silent behaviors that are acting as a “parking brake” on your performance.
A mental framework to measure your true output, ignore the noise, and produce high-level work regardless of how you feel.
And, as always, the audio version of this post is at the bottom of the page.