Excited or Centered: Which State Makes You Stronger?
In which state do you think you're stronger and smarter?
Excited: You're buzzing with enthusiasm and feel you can do anything.
Centered: You're calm, focused, and precise.
I used to believe the first state was more powerful. But after observing myself, I noticed that when I became too excited, I tended to make more mistakes. My energy also seemed to fade quickly when I started doing the actual work.
So I began experimenting with how to use excitement without being carried away by it.
An Experiment on a Morning Run
One morning, an amazing idea came to me while I was running. Excitement surged through my body. My mind immediately began playing a movie of how the idea would become reality.
But after about ten minutes, my right knee started hurting, my breathing became uneven, and my legs felt heavy. My mind was celebrating while my body was struggling.
I decided to step out of the story and return to the experience itself.
I brought my attention to my breathing. With each inhale, I swung my arms three times: left, right, left. With each exhale, I relaxed the counting.
Gradually, my mind quieted. I became aware of a subtle space in front of my body. My breathing deepened, my belly and lungs moved more freely, and my body began to feel lighter.
Then something shifted.
My thinking no longer seemed to pull me forward into an imagined future. Instead, it settled into a quiet space that supported my movement. My steps became more fluid, and running felt less like an effortful struggle and more like a natural flow.
The energy hadn't disappeared. My relationship with it had changed.
From Excitement to Aligned Action
This experience helped me see a distinction: feeling energized isn't necessarily the same as using energy effectively.
Excitement can inspire us with new ideas and give us the courage to begin. But we may easily lose contact with the energy of the presence. By returning our attention to the body, the breath, and the action itself, we may be able to channel that energy more effectively.
This is the principle behind what I call Aligned Action: rather than forcing ourselves forward through excitement or willpower, we learn to become present and let our next action emerge from that clarity.
The question isn't whether excitement or calmness is better. It's whether we can welcome our excitement without becoming carried away by it.
What about you? When do you perform at your best: when you're buzzing with excitement, or when you're calm, centered, and fully engaged?