Erin King, Utilizing Motivation and Confidence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/02/27

Erin King is a bestselling author, global keynote speaker, and top authority on personal energy management. She founded and grew three successful ventures, including Socialite Agency, later acquired by Strikepoint. Named one of Success Magazine’s “Top 10 Must-See Motivational Speakers of 2023,” Erin has empowered millions worldwide with her book You’re Kind of a Big Deal and top 1% podcast, On Your Terms with Erin King. Her insights have been featured in Forbes, ABC, and SUCCESS Magazine. Erin enjoys outdoor sports outside of work with her husband, Hartman, and her cavapoo, Miss Betty White, embracing life with her Irish family.

King discusses the crucial role of personal energy in leadership and success. King highlighted how energy, often dismissed as a soft skill, influences leaders’ abilities to inspire and lead effectively, with historical examples like Alexander the Great. The The Energy Exam  framework identifies energy levels on a 1-7 scale, categorizing individuals as “Big Energy Beings” when consistently scoring high in energy and life satisfaction. With insights from research on 10,000 people, King explains that understanding one’s unique energy type and managing “superchargers”and “drainers” can optimize personal and professional performance.

You can take the 5-minute, PhD-created test here.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we’re with Erin King from The Energy Exam. You and your team offer a unique approach to viewing personal energy as a key driver of success—which might often be called “good vibes.” So, what is the foundational metric you’re using with The Energy Exam ?

Erin King: Great question. Interestingly, you bring up “good vibes” because traditionally, discussions of energy in corporate environments, especially among top executives worldwide, were often dismissed as “woo-woo,” “hippie-dippy,”or soft skills. However, history shows that leaders’ energy levels have consistently played a crucial role in their influence. Look at historical figures like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. You’ll find references to a leader’s energy as a factor that helped them rally people, mobilize support, and gather momentum for their initiatives or conquests—whether for good or bad. Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, even emphasized that a leader’s personal “chi” is the most critical element in rallying a team. Likewise, in history, leaders like Simón Bolívar or Harriet Tubman exhibited unwavering energy, motivating others to follow; for Tubman, her strength and dedication made the Underground Railroad possible. Across many cultures, this concept appears repeatedly, with terms like “mana” in Polynesian culture or “ka” in ancient Egyptian.

So, energy can be a decisive edge in determining one’s ability to influence, impact, and perform at one’s best. I spent over a year working with a team of PhD researchers, interviewing over 10,000 people across the United States aged 18 to 64 to understand their energy habits—how they source, spend, and conserve their most valuable energy resource. One of our questions asked participants what made a leader successful: their connections, experience, skill set, creativity, moral compass, or work ethic. The number one answer was their “vibe” or “way of being.”

Discussing energy at the highest levels of business, society, and personal growth is not a “nice-to-have” or a superficial concept. It’s become an essential workplace skill for leaders and professionals in the 21st century. Regarding your original question about the metric we use in the assessment, there have been around a dozen academic studies on personal energy management over the past 50 years. The widely accepted metric for personal energy is a scale from 1 to 7. If you ask, “Where’s your energy today?” you’re gauging it on this scale, like checking a personal battery level.

It’s Friday at 3:18 PM here in Utah, so our energy levels may be slightly lower after a long week with meetings and calls. When assessing energy, we should ask, “Where’s your battery now?”

King: The way scientists and psychologists ask us to evaluate our energy is by taking the last 90 days of our lives—the ups and downs, whether we’re morning people or night people, Monday starters or Friday finishers. They suggest we average our general energy level on a scale from 1 to 7, where one is the lowest and seven is fully charged. On this scale, 1 to 4 is considered the lower energy range, and 5 to 7 is the higher range.

Our study found a group that consistently reported higher energy levels in the 5 to 7 range and had high life satisfaction scores. Life satisfaction here means how present and joyful you feel, how successful you consider yourself, and how excited you are for the future. Those who reported both a life satisfaction score of 90 or above and an energetic score of 5 to 7 over the past 90 days are what we call “Big Energy Beings.” This group became the focal point of our research to understand how they source, spend, and save their energy.

The metric, then, revolves around your personal energy “battery.” Energy management isn’t about matching someone else’s energy level or mimicking another person’s style; it’s about finding that version of yourself that feels fully charged and at your best. It’s about bringing your best self to the table personally and professionally.

Jacobsen: So, this approach might sound “woo-woo” to some, especially because in psychology and other social sciences, concepts like this are inherently qualitative. People often semi-dismiss it if it can’t be measured with the same rigour as in the physical sciences. But what you’re presenting here is a qualitative blend: life satisfaction, authentic use of your resources, and how you engage in tasks or lead others.

I’m still working through the nuances, but it’s a more comprehensive concept. Are these people perhaps more likely to be what we’d consider “self-actualized” in common psychological terms? I’m thinking of Maslow’s hierarchy—people who use their energy broadly and deeply across various aspects of their lives.

King: Yes, so, what’s interesting is that when we talk about something like energy, which cannot be created or destroyed—that’s the hard science—even though it’s intangible, its impact is incredibly vast. Your energy introduces you before you even say a word. You might call it nonverbal communication, eye contact, body language, or simply catching someone’s vibe. But the reality is that you’re immediately transmitting a vibe if you step onto a stage, into an elevator, onto a Zoom call, or into an office or room. That vibe reflects how you’re feeling internally.

How you feel individually is what you transmit interactionally, ultimately influencing everything you do. From productivity and performance to influence and impact, and even how aligned or alive you feel personally. In the research we conducted over a year, I worked with 12 PhD researchers. The scores were self-reported, with us interviewing 10,000 people and asking them where they felt they were in terms of energy and how it impacted their lives.

One of the significant findings was the common assumption that energy levels relate to age. Plenty of generational research compares Boomers to Gen Z, for instance. But we found that, across different generations, what energized people and made them feel like their best selves at work or home was similar.

Considering the energy categories—physical, emotional, social, mental, and spiritual—most were consistent across generations. The only major difference was in the physical category, which varied due to obvious generational differences in physical ability. However, when we looked at mental, spiritual, and social energy, the variations were minimal across the 10,000 people surveyed.

However, when we re-categorized participants based on their “energy type,” we identified five distinct types, which showed the differences in what energized people were pronounced. What energizes people is more strongly influenced by their energy type than their age, effectively debunking the idea that energy sources are generational. We found that we aren’t defined by our age but rather by our energy.

Knowing your energy type—what drains you, what charges you, and how the world perceives you—are insights that help you pivot and adjust how you invest your energy in people, places, and projects. It matters far more how you’re wired energetically, at a foundational level, than how old you are or what you were taught growing up. Our “power source” is as distinct as our DNA.

In the last twenty years, there’s been much discussion around introverts and extroverts, with extroverts getting energy from people and introverts from solitude. However, our study found that about 70% of people are ambiverts. It’s situational; if you’re with someone whose energy you’re resonating with, you can feel extroverted, while in other settings, you may feel more introverted. So, ultimately, it’s not fixed—it’s situational.

It’s vibrational. Understanding how you work best energetically and how your team or family operates is crucial for anyone in a leadership or galvanizing role. What makes Jacobsen lean in and say, “Tell me more,” might not be the same for someone else. This whole concept of energy management is the new time management; it’s the currency we use to interact with the world. In a time when artificial intelligence, filters, and fake news often blur reality, energy is a truth-teller. It’s something reliable you can anchor to—someone’s energy or vibe doesn’t lie. Energy is the last remaining truth-teller.

Whether in sales, marketing, collaboration, creativity, or project management, understanding how your energy is perceived and others’ energy works allows for adjustments that lead to better collaboration, productivity, positivity, and profitability. Our research identified five energy types: Synergistic, Responsive, Rigorous, Generative, and Kinetic.

Jacobsen: And with a sample size of 10,000, that’s quite large for a study. Usually, an acceptable sample size is around 2,000 participants.

King:  Due to budget constraints, we conducted all interviews within the United States. Patterns emerged from these thousands of conversations regarding how people source, spend, and save energy. This led us to identify five distinct energy types: Kinetic, Responsive, Generative, Rigorous, and Synergistic.

Interestingly, around 5,000 people have taken the Energy Exam since it was launched two months ago. In follow-up emails, we asked participants how accurately their identified type reflected their experience—how the world perceives them, what powers them, and what drains them. The feedback has shown a substantial 97% self-reported accuracy rate.

Even more compelling, each type has a scientifically based shortcut for engineering your energy in high-stakes moments when you need it most. Think about peak performance: we all want to bring our best to valuable or challenging experiences, but sometimes, we’re drained. Each type’s unique “energy hack” enables individuals to channel their energy effectively when it matters most.

We’re exhausted. It’s often due to things within our control, like not enforcing boundaries, making unhealthy decisions, or overcommitting. Maybe we’re making mistakes with our energy—spreading ourselves too thin, not being honest, or adhering too much to societal or familial “shoulds.” These are all controllable energy drainers. Then there are the uncontrollable ones: wars, economic issues, politics, difficult seasons, accidents, trauma, illness, and loss. These factors drain our battery in ways we can’t always control.

So, when you think about what impacts your “battery,” personally and professionally, it’s important to consider what you can and can’t control. The idea behind this movement is that peak performance—being at your best—happens when you’re radically present when you’re “where your feet are.” This is challenging in 2024, with constant notifications, social media, and news feeds designed by the smartest engineers to distract us.

Our study asked people what they admired in someone’s energy. The top three responses were active listening, engaged body language, and authentic empathy. Each of these requires a radical presence—a sense of being fully there with others. Yet, many high achievers struggle with this; they’re constantly “time travelling”—either to the future, anticipating problems and trying to control outcomes (which fuels anxiety), or to the past, dwelling on mistakes, limiting beliefs, or difficult experiences (which can lead to depression).

So, in those key moments—whether it’s a work presentation or a family gathering—if we’re time travelling to the future or the past, we’re not fully present. And if we’re not present, we’re not transmitting the kind of energy that’s admirable. We’re not actively listening, our body language isn’t engaged, and we aren’t showing authentic empathy.

When we’re not where our feet are, we must be fully engaged and take advantage of opportunities to connect meaningfully with others. True presence happens when we’re naturally engaged and energized. That’s when we’re able to show up at our best.

Instead of just telling people to “be present” or “live in the moment,” we need to help them engineer a sense of being engaged in the moment. Suppose you can engineer that state—what science calls being “in flow”—you’re naturally present. It forces you to be “where your feet are.” And when you’re truly present, guess what happens? Your energy reflects all the qualities people admire in “good vibes,” as you said earlier, Scott. You’re actively listening, your body language is engaged, and you’re showing authentic empathy because you’re fully in the moment.

The idea behind this study was to find ways to engineer our energy so that we’re forced to be present, especially when we don’t feel like it. When we’re exhausted, burnt out, overwhelmed, or want to escape. We often escape to the future or the past but escape into our devices. We scroll away our self-awareness, avoiding being “where we are” by seeing who’s having a better time, who’s more successful, or who seems to have the life we want. This escape mechanism keeps us anywhere but the present.

We created a scientifically backed shortcut with the Energy Exam—a “supercharger” for each of the five energy types. You trigger engagement, flow, and presence by introducing this supercharger through people, projects, or places that energize you. This unlocks peak performance because now the energy you transmit is the energy people are naturally drawn to.

What our study showed is that 68% of people—so about 7 out of 10—who were initially in a low energy state (1 to 4 on the 1-7 scale) moved to a higher energy state (5 to 7) just by spending time with someone whose energy they admired. We didn’t phrase it as “someone you want to follow” because not everyone wants to be a follower. We asked about “energy you admire.” After spending time with such a person, we reassessed their energy, and 68% reported a boost.

So, the takeaway is that if you’re a professional, a leader, or anyone working in a low-energy environment, the fastest way to raise the energy isn’t to look around and criticize others’ energy but to raise your own. That’s contagious.

Everyone knows energy is contagious, but our study quantifies it: Seven out of 10 people shift from low to high energy just by being around someone who’s at their best. This isn’t just a soft skill or “woo-woo” idea; it’s a scientifically backed shift. Raising your vibe to raise your value is now an essential skill.

It’s the number one essential skill you can cultivate as a leader today. When people engage with this concept, they should be clear about the impact; it’s not just about “good vibes.” You, Scott, with your expertise in communication, speaking, and authorship, know the importance of carefully using terms like vibes, energy, and vibrational. These terms, while colloquial, convey evidence from studies rather than just empty words.

Jacobsen: Right. So, what are some potential weaknesses of this study?

King: Good question. The primary weaknesses in the study come from the participants themselves. Let’s take the energy types, for example. Say you’re a Rigorous energy type, Scott—I’m not sure if you’ve taken the test yet, but let’s assume that. Rigorous energy types tend to convey a sense of gravitas and discipline. They’re thorough, detail-oriented, and stick to the process. But when they’re drained, it’s often because there’s too much chaos or freewheeling energy around them. For someone with Rigorous energy, their supercharger is “order.” So, if they feel drained, they need to ask themselves, “How can I bring more order to this situation?” They need structure, a game plan, and preparation to unlock their energy and show up at their best.

But every superpower has a shadow side. For instance, Kinetic energy types thrive on motion—the faster, the more energy generated. If a Kinetic type is feeling drained, their supercharger is competition or challenge. When things become too repetitive or formulaic, they must create a sense of competition to re-energize. However, the weakness of this type is that they often ignore physical or emotional signals of exhaustion. They push themselves to burnout by silencing their body’s cues.

Each energy type has a unique strength and a corresponding weakness. Take Responsive energy types, for example. They’re empathetic and often act as listeners or therapists for others. Feeling drained, they need space to process, think, and digest what has transpired. Their superpower is being accessible and caring, but the downside is that they sometimes make themselves too accessible, allowing others to drain their energy because they care too much.

Each energy type has its unique “supercharger” to maintain balance, but it must also be cautious of overextending its strengths, which can turn into weaknesses. It’s about recognizing that each type has a strength and a shadow and learning how to manage both to optimize energy levels.

They often put everyone else ahead of themselves—it’s a classic people-pleaser personality. Each energy type has a superpower but also a shadow side. The same charger that fuels them can also act as their drainer.

So, one of the weaknesses in the study is recognizing that if you’re going through a “rainy season”—I call it “when it rains, it pours”—you may be dealing with multiple drainers in your life. You might think, “Erin, I’m just trying to get myself out of bed right now, let alone raise my vibe.” There are different levels of energy: surviving and thriving are two distinct states. If you’re in a high season, you’re ready to elevate, to “raise your vibe.” But if you’re in survival mode, it’s not about comparing yourself to others; it’s about understanding your baseline, giving yourself grace, and knowing there are small adjustments you can make to bring yourself back to your best gradually.

The biggest challenge in energy management is that social media and phones encourage constant comparison, which drains your energy faster than anything. This process isn’t about emulating your boss, coworkers, or influencers you follow. It’s about looking within and having the courage to search for answers internally rather than externally. Managing your energy isn’t something you master—it’s more like yoga or golf; it’s a practice. You improve each day, finding what works for you to show up at your best.

Our Big Energy Blueprint process uses a five-step, infinity-knot-shaped process to optimize energy daily. The steps are Ask, Assess, Align, Adjust, and Amplify. The third step, Alignment, is the hardest. It requires deleting drainers and leaning into chargers, which takes courage and guts. It means tuning into your gut instinct, which often tells you more than logic alone.

So Alignment is about having the courage to step away from things that should be fulfilling but aren’t, right? Sometimes, we stay in jobs, relationships, or projects that should feel fulfilling or energizing. This “should, should, should” mentality can be a trap. But your body speaks to you if you feel heavy, drained, or exhausted despite how things should be. It doesn’t matter how influential a person is, how smart a project seems, or how promising an environment appears. If your body signals exhaustion, it’s a cue to listen. Yet, we’re often so focused on escaping with our phones or time-travelling forward or backward that we ignore these signals. Especially as a leader, being attuned to your body’s guidance is crucial.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Erin.

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