You are not weak, you are falling apart.

You can't keep running on an empty tank—and you have 4 of them.

Inexplicably, they are quietly vanishing: the goosebumps from music you used to blast into your ears to pep up your step, the sweet heartache when glancing at artwork you used to love, the tiniest moments of everyday magic your eyes used to catch all around you.

They are not gone, no, but are slowly being displaced by the things you "should"—the little generals commanding the one-man army of you. They are certainly lucky; you are capable to the bone, but are you really OK?

You’d say you rest too much, but how have you been resting?

Sure, you sleep. You fall onto the backrest of your seat, exhale, and stare at the ceiling. You fill a bath, sometimes.

You scroll social media feeds, then curse yourself for procrastinating and Google an article on how to stop procrastinating. Then, you curse yourself again for needing an article to stop procrastinating, open work files and stare at the cursor. No more distractions, but the black stick blinks and refuses to budge.

Resting now feels like a self-admission of failure. You want to push yourself past this, at least for one step, at least until you see something… a glimpse of progress. Proof that you “can”.

Five minutes later you find a slightly different proof—halfway through WebMD, reading about a thing with a glaring “D” for disorder. Must be the source of your weakness.

Have you ever considered that it’s just… your empty tank?

And that scrolling you are blaming yourself for is what’s refuelling you? Your finger flickers and your mind drifts because you are reaching out for what you need.

You can't keep running on an empty tank.

Any of the four tanks.

But once you top them off, your skills come alive, igniting you like that electrifying blast from your earphones as you take that next step forward.

Tank 1: Physical Energy

Your body is your instrument. Yet, on life’s special occasions, our instruments are out of tune because we don't bother with gentle daily care.

This care is universal: how well we sleep, how well we eat and how well we move. It's the materials and the opportunities we give our body to repair, regenerate and refuel—so our body can take its best care of us.

We often expect to take from our body, without giving much in return.

We want a good deal—we want lots of energy without lots of effort. We blame our body for being broken but fail to see that we demand more of it than it is capable of producing.

Stresses we face aren't purely mental: the state of your body determines how resistant you will be to these stresses and whether you will even be able to use your mental stress-management tools.

Parents all over the world know when their child needs sleep—they become angry, sad, frustrated with little things. And this is something you never grow out of.

Tired people are poor performers.

Respect your body’s needs for sleep, nutritious food, and water. Move more in ways that make you happy.

Regularity adds up, whether it's neglect or care.

Think of how to say “thank you” to your body after the day's hard work.

Tank 2: Emotional energy

There are things in life that make us feel like we are flying, and things that make us feel like we got smashed into concrete.

Strong positive emotions fill us with zest for life and an irresistible urge to create. Strong negative emotions drain us, leaving us empty and lifeless.

Have you been avoiding things that start your fire?

If strong negative emotions have the power to knock you down, then equally strong positive emotions have just the same power to help you stand tall again.

Take your calendar, task manager or a simple piece of paper and mark every action you’ve done today with + (gave energy), +/- (didn't give, didn't take), - (drained energy).

Don’t do this in your head, or you will miss the insights.

Now look at each action individually.

Is it a “should”, or is it a “want”? Or is it a “should-be-wanting”?

You can only push for so long through a joyless process.

It is not the actions that we do, but how we do the actions that makes or breaks us.

Load up on those that make you feel like flying. For the necessary ones that smash you into concrete, see how you can inject them with something you can honestly look forward to.

Tank 3: Mental Focus

A 15-minute meditation will never offset 8 hours of intense mental effort.

You may find yourself in periods when you don’t want anything. We often call these laziness or procrastination, and pushing through on a “should” is far from an effective strategy.

If you’ve been intensely focused on an action, you need a period of dispersed focus (yes, mindless scrolling is your brain’s way of taking a break). Once this tank is fuller you will start wanting things again.

When that happens?

Go do it! The next “want” will appear right after.

See how your tanks are interconnected?

Throughout the day, rest the parts of your brain that have been hard at work. You can do this with moments of stillness (meditation counts, but so does staring at the ceiling) or switch to something that uses a different part of your brain.

If you’ve been thinking, take a walk, do the dishes, or watch a movie. Reading, puzzles and other mental types of rest will further drain your focus tank.

Let your mind drift in the ways you enjoy, and your focus will thank you.

Tank 4: Soul Force

This one is rarely talked about, but you will recognise it.

When you face cruelty, betrayal, heartlessness—your soul force gets depleted.

But a good number of us will never experience as much cruelty, betrayal and heartlessness from the outside world as we experience from ourselves.

How do you talk to yourself when no one else hears? Did you ghost yourself when plans were made? Did you buy yourself flowers?

There is nothing more soul-deteriorating than acting against your deepest values, and the place to start... you guessed it.

It's you.

Treat yourself with respect, in ways that make you proud to be who you are.

Every word that was kept, every step that was made, every moment that was seized to create what you believe in—they all build you.

Instead of yourself, perhaps, ghost some of your feeds. The ones that leave you feeling smashed. Your mind will just as happily drift into green parks and kitten memes. And anything that makes you feel like flying.

It’s the courage to follow through on small things that builds the strength to overcome big things.

Have you been resting?

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