Hell Ya Energy

Do you know the power of “Hell Ya” energy?

Too much of the world is living in “Meh” energy. I don’t really have to explain that too much because you probably get it. For example, if someone offered you a dry roast beef sandwich, you'd likely think, 'Meh.' Not really excited about it, right?

I wanted to talk about this because I feel like too many people are settling for 'meh,' for that feeling of …

• “It's good enough.” 
• “Oh, that's just what I can get.” 
• “I won’t make a big deal of it.” 
• “This is what is out there.”

…without actually going for that, full-blown amazing energy. 

If you start asking yourself, “Is this a Hell Ya?” it becomes an excellent compass for whether you should go for something or not.

The reasons why people struggle to live in Hell Ya energy

Too many people are also stuck in the 'Groundhog Day' loop—doing the same things every single day. We get to a point where we don’t know what we like anymore, what we want, or what we desire. This happens for a few reasons. 

Reason 1: Hustle Culture

Everything is thrown at us—social media, advertising, everywhere you look: TV, phone, billboards, radio etc. Everyone’s telling you what you should like and what you should want. It’s totally dependent on the country you live in. Being in North America, I feel we’re bombarded with hustle culture and things that really aren’t in our best interest. What they’re doing is pushing things that fuel their bank accounts.

Reason 2: Lack Intention

Another reason we struggle to live in Hell Ya energy is that we lack intention with our activities. We finish our workday, and then maybe we sit and scroll on our phones, or after dinner, we put on the TV. 

I don’t think there’s anyone who would say, “My plan for tonight is to scroll for an hour on my phone with mindless social media and then watch three hours of TV.” 

Maybe you think, “Well, I’m going to watch that movie I’m so excited about,” or “I’m going to watch my show, and I’m really excited about it.” That can be the Hell Ya energy, but we spend too much time without intention, and then we wonder, “Where did the day go? Where did the night go?”

Even those moments of between, we've lost the moments of between and deciding what we're going to do because our default is social media. Our default is media in general. Our default is things we wouldn’t intentionally choose. 

Not only are we bombarded with messages telling us what to buy and eat, but the things put in front of us are often of poor quality. We’re given poor-quality foods. If you've ever travelled to another country that values local, pure, and organic ingredients rather than all this processed crap we get, you know the difference.

The other day, there was a video of a woman on an airplane returning from her trip to Europe. She picks up a piece of what looks like bread or cake and takes a bite. The caption said, “Your first bite of processed food after eating real food in Europe.” Later, she had to defend herself because people were upset with her opinion, but it was the truth. We don’t have the best quality food here, and that’s why we overeat—our bodies are searching for nutrients. I spoke a little bit about this in the last blog.

We also have poor-quality clothes. Yes, there are amazing clothes out there—organic, locally made, and handmade—but there’s also a lot of fast fashion. Of course, you end up with that “dime a dozen” item of clothing. I’ve mentioned it before, but we spend our time in many ways that feel like 'meh.' I say “spend” because we’re not investing our time.

The other day, I realized I’m not reading nearly as much as I want to. I’m not investing time in my Bible, doing devotions, or praying as much as I want to. I’m not going to the gym as much as I want to. It's not a “should”—it’s a desire. Yes, a bunch of the things I’m filling my time with are great, but there’s still a lot of 'meh' stuff in there.

What Hell Ya energy is 

Hell Ya energy is when you get an email invitation to an event, and as you read it, you think, “Well, maybe I’ll go if I’m available. I’ll see if it fits in. I’ll see if I have the time or energy to go.” That’s 'meh.' You don’t really care. 

Have you ever opened up an email invitation and thought, “Hell ya, I want to go to this!”? Right away, you're like, “Yep, count me in! I’m there!” That’s what we’re looking for in life—more of that Hell Ya energy.

Now, I get that there are things in life, like doing taxes or cleaning your house, where you think, “I don’t really want to do this, but I know I have to.” You have the desire to be in alignment with the government and to live in a clean, uncluttered place. Ideally, we want about 80% of our lives to be filled with Hell Ya energy.

I feel bad for people in jobs or businesses they hate because Hell Ya energy puts you in resonance. In coaching, we talk about how it’s energy and gives you power. It’s like you could do it all day. Think of an activity you could do all day. For me, it’s being creative, coaching, training, or speaking on stage. I might get tired, but I don't feel the need to stop. I can just go, go, go because I’m in resonance—I’m in flow. I’m in energy. It’s easy. There’s flow. What’s the opposite?

What “Meh” energy is

Meh is dissonance. It could be worse than neutral—it’s settling, or even worse than that. It’s actually a negative. Dissonance is friction. It’s hard. It takes a ton of energy, and you might have to motivate yourself. 

What you can do

I encourage you to start looking for Hell Ya energy with your decisions. Look for activities, people, events, food, clothes, travel—everything in your life that gives you that Hell Ya feeling. Look for what excites you.

That’s why I took a stand-up comedy class. That’s how I ended up taking Japanese in university. I thought, “Whoa, that’s cool. I want to do that.” We’re looking for that energy in our lives because it makes our lives richer. It helps us make decisions more easily by following our gut, our intuition, our internal energy meter that tells us where to go.

I saw a post the other day that said you could spend an hour a day connecting with your spouse, your partner, or even your kids or best friend. The idea is that you have time to do this if you have time to watch TV. That kind of hit me because I thought, “Whoa, an hour to do that? I don’t have that time!” But I have spent an hour watching TV. I’ve been guilty of scrolling on my phone throughout the day.

A simple exercise for you

I encourage you to take out a piece of paper, set a timer for five minutes, and go through your life. Write down all the things you’re currently doing—activities, clients, foods, places, and people—that have Hell Ya energy for you. 

Then make another list of things that have 'meh' energy. You might have to look back at your calendar and remember all the things you did or the things coming up next week. Write down those things that make you think, 'Meh.'

Finally, create a new list of new Hell Ya energy—things that excite you. One thing that excites me moving forward is taking a glassblowing class. My husband and I are also going to start ballroom dancing. These activities have energy and excitement for me. 

Thankfully, because I’ve been sharing about this Hell Ya energy, others have been pointing things out to me and sharing opportunities. I even had a connection through CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) who sent me a course on writing my one-woman show. Hell ya, count me in! That’s something I already want to do.

Over the next few weeks, practice this. When someone asks if you want to hang out, do something, or go somewhere, or if you're deciding what to eat or wear, ask yourself, “Is this Hell Ya energy, or is this Meh energy?” Is it resonance—exciting, energetic flow—or dissonance—friction, lack of desire, and difficulty? 

Use this as your compass to guide you in the right direction. The more you live in Hell Ya energy, the more resonance you'll experience, and I promise you'll be happier and more fulfilled in life.

So, who of your friends needs to read this blog? Please share it with them! 

Until next time, everyone—stay dynamic. 

Read my other blogs:

1. Stop Doing This So You Can Be Happy
2. I've Outgrown that Old Version of Me
3. You’re Not Stuck, Your Mission Just Got Bigger