deep breathing, adopting a vegetarian diet, eliminating caffeine, drinking more caffeine, eating small but frequent portions, eating a big breakfast, eating a small breakfast, taking natural vitamin supplements, taking afternoon naps, working with weights, bicycle riding, doing yoga, getting up early, getting up late, meditating, and many others.
No Magic Diet, No Specific Exercise Routine
The problem was that none of these activities nor any combination thereof gave me the type of energy boost I was looking for. Sure enough, over time I could see how some approaches worked better for me than others, but nothing proved to be the panacea I was looking for. Could so many people be wrong with all of the great ideas they were promoting to increase the amount of personal energy? Was there something I was missing? How come I still didn’t seem to have enough energy?
One day without searching for it, the solution hit me like a bolt of lightning. I realized that there was no magic remedy for a life filled with vibrant energy, or at least nothing that any vitamin pill or specific diet or exercise routine could provide.
The reason had nothing to do with physiology and everything to do with psychology.
It all boiled down to one word: Attitude.
Attitude is Key
If your attitude is positive and you have the general outlook of appreciating the things that occur in your life, you will usually have more than enough energy to get through the day. Yet if you have a negative outlook that focuses upon problems and what’s wrong with your life, you will typically find yourself dragging through the day without enough energy to get everything done. In fact, I’d venture to say that the person who goes about his day appreciating what he encounters and the people he meets can eat bon bons, smoke cigarettes, and have ½ a pig for lunch with fries and a coke and still have more energy than someone who is negative and worrisome and yet is otherwise healthy and a good steward of their body. The first person will probably die sooner due to a heart attack or some other health related malady, but they’ll probably enjoy their journey on this planet a lot more than the one who tries to do everything “right” and still chooses to walk around with a negative focus.
Appreciation Kills Stress
Why is this so? It has to do with stress. Stress is the product of worry and frustration and robs us of significant amounts of energy. When we allow ourselves to “stress out” we burn up most of our energy on the tasks of feeling bad and worrying.
Appreciation is the opposite of stress, and the beauty of this solution is that it is practically impossible to feel appreciative and stressed at the same time. Try it. Think about something that would normally stress you out. Got it? Good. Now think about someone or something that you are genuinely appreciative for and focus on that feeling for a moment. What happened to all that stress you were just holding onto? If you are like most people it probably just disappeared!
In each moment we get to choose our thoughts, and the implications go far beyond the metaphysical notion that “thoughts become things”. Over time they do, but even more immediate is fact that our mental focus has the ability to either energize us or rob us of the energy required to create the types of lives that we desire. The best of intentions matter little when you’re plopped on the couch wishing you could somehow find the energy you need to push on.
Test for Yourself
If you desire to radically change the energy levels in your life, I encourage you to adopt the idea that changing your attitude tops the list. Try it out for yourself for one week and then come back and tell me if I’m wrong. If so, I’ll refund every penny you paid to read this wonderful article. 
If you truly focus upon being appreciative and looking for the good in all situations, I believe that over the course of a week you will find that you have much more energy available and experience a significant reduction in stress. If not, email me and I’ll offer to sell you some magnetic bracelets specially blessed by my Cousin Louie, or maybe some special healing crystals recovered from the magical waters of the Fountain of Youth. 
If you find this site helpful, please leave a donation for Ken and enjoy the spirit of giving too.