This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Energize" by Simon Alexander Ong. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you have someone in your life you want to make happy? Can you transfer your own energy to someone else?
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.
Take a look at how to boost someone’s mood, just as others do to you.
Energize Those Around You
Simon Alexander Ong says you should deeply consider how to boost someone’s mood 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.)
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Here's what you'll find in our full Energize summary:
- How to cultivate and replenish your energy
- Why your personal energy can be infectious
- How money can give you energy and take it away
