Shield your energy by curating positive inputs

Imagine building an invisible fortress around your mind and heart—one that lets in only the ideas, people and content that fuel your peak performance and joyful spirit. Every day you’re bombarded with notifications, headlines, gossip and idle chit-chat designed to keep you distracted and depleted. In this clamoring environment, your creativity and willpower get sapped before you even begin your true work.

To secure your positivity, use The IPOP Principle: Input Positivity, Output Positivity. First, conduct an audit of everything you let into your world—social media feeds, news outlets, TV shows, podcast subscriptions and even the people you talk to at the coffee shop. Mark anything that leaves you tense, angry or anxious as “toxic.”

Next, block or mute those sources. Then replace them with nourishing inputs: daily nature breaks, uplifting podcasts, educational articles, respectful friends who challenge you kindly and a bedtime gratitude ritual. Scientific studies on attention residue and cognitive bandwidth show that each time you switch tasks or consume negative content, a piece of your focus is left behind like a breadcrumb, making it harder to do the next task and increasing stress.

By guarding your inputs carefully, you’ll find yourself far more creative, focused and positive. This positive feedback loop recharges your emotional reserves, propels you toward better results and prevents burnout. Soon you’ll witness how your upgraded ecosystem elevates every other area of your life.

Begin by listing all the apps, media channels and people you interact with today and rate each on a -5 to +5 energy scale. Silence or block the -3 to -5 sources and replace them with at least three new positive influencers—like an inspiring podcast, a nature walk or a mentor’s newsletter. At day’s end, reflect on how your energy shifted and carry that momentum forward tomorrow. Give it a try before lunch.