Estimated read time: 5 minutes

Sometimes I sit down to write this newsletter and it pours out like hot tea fresh from the pot. 

Other times, I’ve run out of tea bags and the power’s out. 

I have to build a fire and forage herbs and the final product is watery and void of caffeine. 

Can you relate? It’s so hard to engineer the conditions for ~peak performance~ day in, day out. 

Life happens. 

Maybe you didn’t sleep well because you watched one too many Black Mirror episodes. 

Maybe you’ve got ADHD or anxi-tea or some other neurodivergence that’s both a superpower and a struggle fest. 

Maybe your toddler was up with growing pains and you massaged their legs until you were wide awake at 3am (🙋‍♀️)

Maybe you couldn’t resist the queso and spicy margs.

So whaddya do when your business relies on your brain and it’s not working how you want it to?!

You can drink 3 cups of coffee and try to push through, sure. 

Or you can stop. FULL STOP. & ask yourself… 

What would my business look like if I put my ENERGY first?

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article

🍵💲 What it means to build an ENERGY FIRST business ( + what your personality has to do with it) 

🍵💲 Brain boosting tips & tricks from a certified herbalist (psychedelics totally optional 😉)

🍵💲 A super easy & practical assessment you can do this week to increase the energy and good vibes flowing into your field

What it means to build an ENERGY FIRST business

Years ago, Kate Northrup started talking about the concept of a “body first” business. Meaning, before you do anything — you take care of your body. 

I adopted this practice into my own life a few years ago after a looong time spent ignoring my meat suit. 

It looked like: 

⇒ Prioritizing some form of movement at the start of every day. I told myself that even if all I have time for is 10 minutes of stretching, it would count. 

⇒ Eating lunch and not *just* popcorn. 

⇒ Microdosing, nootropics, omega 3s to support my noggin’. 

Body first is a pretty powerful practice. If it’s not your norm already, it’ll feel foreign and indulgent. I promise, it’s not. 

I asked my friend Onjae, a certified herbalist and microdosing coach to share some tips and insights with you on the BODY & MIND side of the equation 👇

What would you say are the biggest reasons people have chronic brain fog?

“So, when we talk about brain fog, there’s one thing we must address: inflammation. When your brain’s inflamed, cell communication slows to a crawl. That’s why brain fog feels like wading through molasses.

But the question is, what’s inflaming the system? 

The first place to look is what we are putting into our mouths. By now, I’m sure we can all understand that processed foods, refined sugar, and other so-called “food” items aren’t doing our bodies or brains any favors.

TOXINS

From mercury to mold, plastics to pesticides, and phthalates to PCBs, these toxins clog our detox systems, turning our bodies into a toxic soup, diminishing vitality and fueling chronic diseases.

And to top it off, many of these toxins are lipophilic, meaning they love fat—and what’s one of the fattiest organs? The brain!

STRESS

Chronic stress flips cortisol, the primary stress hormone, from being anti-inflammatory to inflammatory, ramping up neuroinflammation and fueling brain fog.

Even just one (or all three) of these factors can trigger system-wide inflammation. The result? A brain that’s on fire, unfocused, sluggish, and emotionally out of whack!”

What are some small changes or supplements entrepreneurs can make or take to improve their focus?

“If you lack basic vital nutrients, a common issue due to depleted soils and food quality, taking nootropics (cognitive-enhancing compounds) won’t be as effective. Your body requires the right building blocks for them to do their job.

Unless you’re a badass like Chanti, growing your own food, and putting a strong emphasis on building soil health!

For the rest of us, covering the basics by taking water-soluble vitamins like C and B-complex, alongside the fat-soluble ADEK, are fundamental to healthy brain function and overall well-being.

Then, you can bring out the big guns.

Here are some of my go-to’s:

• Bacopa – an Ayurvedic herb prized for its ability to increase focus, enhance memory, reduce stress, and boost mood.

• Rhodiola – a botanical medicine sought by Chinese emperors who were always seeking the key to immortality. It enhances alertness, improves memory, reduces fatigue, and relieves depression.

• Acetyl-L-Carnitine – a supplement that’s been shown to increase brain energy, and mental clarity, and protect against age-related cognitive decline.

A shameless plug: 

For those who want to take a deeper dive into this, here’s a free guide that I created – The Top 5 Brain-Boosting Supplements – to help you reclaim your focus and clear brain fog (within minutes) so you can win the day!

Grab it here!

Let’s talk microdosing: how have you seen it impact your clients?

“For those of you who don’t know, microdosing is the practice of taking sub-perceptual doses of a psychedelic substance, like psilocybin mushrooms or LSD regularly.

You won’t hallucinate but still experience many mental and emotional health benefits, helping those with depression, anxiety, ADHD, addiction, and more.

But microdosing also has incredible cognitive-boosting effects as well!

One is enhancing creativity, especially for the entrepreneurs and creatives out there. It helps them find innovative solutions to persistent problems and view things from fresh perspectives, revealing overlooked blind spots.

Another thing I see is its ability to help people discover deeper fulfillment in their businesses and lives.

Microdosing isn’t meant to swap out one drug for another, it’s about addressing the root causes of depression and anxiety, rewiring the brain for new ways of thinking, feeling, and being… So they can break free and finally live!”

This practice worked so amazingly well for me. But some days the horrors aren’t merely body based… they’re energetic. 

So my expanded version of body first = energy first (which includes caring for your bod). 

In an energy first business, you don’t ignore your shadow. 

Chronic negative thoughts and triggers don’t get swept under the rug. Intuition is honored. 

You give yourself space to process all that being a business owner brings up. 

You investigate your own preferences. 

You pinpoint what feeds you vs. what drains you. If you find yourself doing things that you consistently do not *want* to do? Why is that? 

Your energy takes priority over everything else. 

So in practice, this might look like stopping what you’re doing when you notice your inner narrative is stuck in a negativity loop… 

& doing what you can to reset. 

Going for a walk. Calling up a friend. Soaking in the bath. Eating something. Journaling. Tapping. Unplugging. 

In a conventional career, none of this is really an option. But you’re not conventional. You make the rules. 

Most of the time, whatever you’re doing or working on is less important than the state of your energy. Because it’s your energy generating your results.

The energy first assessment you can do this week to get clear on what feeds you vs. what depletes you:

You’re going to bust out your favorite notebook (or digital equivalent) and make 3 columns…

As you go about your week, you’ll fill in the columns. You can do this at the end of your days or as you notice things coming up. 

If you do a task and it feels nourishing, note it in the appropriate column. 

Likewise with when you do something that feels neutral or like a firm NO in your body. 

Just take note. 

At the end of the week, if your ‘nourishing’ list isn’t at least twice as long as your NO list, you’ve got a great starting point to explore why that is and how you can engineer your business to do more of what you love, and protect your energy in turn.

Sip on this…  

🧋 “There is no such thing as a sustainable traffic source” – mic drop from my friend Josh in his newsletter on the cold traffic conundrum.

🧋@laurenoflove speaking TROOF: