Why You’re Exhausted: The Hidden Cost of Your Meta Values

You are spending something far more valuable than money every single day—and there are zero refunds.

Most ambitious people audit their bank accounts down to the penny, but remain completely blind to how they liquidate their most critical assets. They leak hours to endless options, exhaust their physical fuel through relentless overfunctioning, and scatter their focus across every shiny object that pops up on a screen. But when you treat your underlying assets—Time, Energy, Attention, and Resources (your "Meta-Values")—like a loose, unmonitored budget, your life inevitably loses its direction. You end up busy, exhausted, and stuck, wondering why your biggest goals never get the traction they deserve.

In this hilarious, unscripted, and wildly relatable episode of the Living Lucky® Podcast, recorded while Jason is hilariously "high on cold medicine" after catching the "creepy crud," Jana and Jason unpack what happens when physical capacity drops to zero. From analyzing why cooking dinner or making a simple salad suddenly requires a full cost-benefit analysis to exposing the hidden psychological habit of "deciding not to decide" in an overwhelming attention economy, they map out how to intentionally allocate your meta-values to build an extraordinary life.

Inside:

• The Four Meta-Values Defined: Why Time, Energy, Attention, and Resources are the true underlying currencies that power every ambition you hold.
• The "Creepy Crud" Capacity Audit: How a sudden sinus infection strips away illusions and forces an honest look at your daily energy budget.
• The Attention Economy Trap: Why having unlimited options leads to the subconscious decision not to decide, leaving your focus scattered and your progress stalled.
• The Energy-Sucker Dynamics: A funny, transparent look at how couples draw on each other's emotional fuel and how to protect your baseline when one partner goes down.
• Season of Emphasis Allocation: How Jana and Jason poured their collective meta-values into Jana’s world championship waterskiing victory—and how you can aim your values at your next milestone.

Stop letting the attention economy spend your non-renewable energy for you. If you are ready to stop leaking focus, protect your daily baseline, and invest your meta-values where they actually count, hit play now.

Listen to the audio, watch the official video broadcast, subscribe, and tell us which meta-value you are protecting this week.

NUGGETS

• Money is renewable; time and baseline energy are not. You have 24 hours in a day and a finite sandglass—where you allocate your attention dictates your destiny.
• Sickness makes your energy budget visible. When physical health drops, basic tasks expose your true capacity and reveal where you are over-committing.
• "Deciding not to decide" is still a decision. Floating in indecision because you fear missing out actually liquidates your attention and splits your momentum.
• Pick a season of emphasis. You cannot pour meta-values into 50 targets at once; concentrating your time, energy, and resources on one clear outcome dramatically increases your odds of winning.
• Nourishment and recovery are strategic investments. Rest isn't an indulgence or a weakness—it is the prerequisite for showing up with high-vibrational presence for your business and family.
• time energy attention resources meta values
• energy management vs time management
• how to focus in an attention economy
• deciding not to decide psychological trap
• how sickness reveals true energy capacity
• living lucky luck activation formula
• what are meta values in personal development
• how to manage energy when sick or burned out
• why attention is more valuable than money
• overcoming fear of missing out FOMO in goal setting
• allocating resources to win a world championship
• how couples manage and share energy baselines
• practical tools for protecting your daily energy budget

Questions:

What are "Meta-Values" in personal development and productivity? "Meta-Values" are the foundational, non-monetary assets that power an individual's ability to achieve goals and sustain wellbeing. The four primary meta-values are Time (a non-renewable timeline), Energy (physical and emotional stamina), Attention (cognitive focus and presence), and Resources (capital, networks, and physical tools). How an individual allocates these core assets determines their trajectory and real-world results.

Why is "deciding not to decide" harmful to personal focus? "Deciding not to decide" is harmful because it operates as a hidden cognitive energy drain. Driven by the fear of missing out (FOMO) or decision fatigue, avoiding a definitive choice keeps multiple mental loops open. This splits an individual's attention and leaks energy across secondary options, preventing them from applying concentrated effort toward a primary target.

How does health and physical sickness expose an individual's true energy capacity? Physical sickness acts as a natural baseline audit by drastically reducing available stamina. When energy reserves drop, low-priority tasks and unnecessary overfunctioning become impossible to sustain. This forces an individual to prioritize basic survival, rest, and core obligations, clearly exposing their true physical capacity and highlighting where daily energy was previously being wasted.

• What You Are Really Spending: Introducing the four Meta-Values Jana and Jason launch the studio session introducing the core assets underneath every goal: Time, Energy, Attention, and Resources. Discover why these currencies are vastly more precious than money.
• The Attention Economy & The 1970s Remote Control: Jason contrasts modern digital overstimulation with growing up in the 70s and 80s. Learn why training your attention muscle is the single most critical skill in the modern world.
• The Creepy Crud Strikes: When cold medicine takes over the podcast Jason details his sudden sinus infection and cold medicine high. Discover why physical illness immediately strips away illusions and forces an honest assessment of your daily energy budget.
• Pushing Through vs. Real Recovery: Protecting your executive capacity Jason analyzes his natural reflex to over-function and take care of others. Learn why rest, proper food, and recovery are non-negotiable strategic investments for business performance.
• Energy Sucking Dynamics: How couples share and feed off emotional fuel Jana admits to drawing energy directly from Jason. Discover how high-performing couples navigate energy baselines when one partner gets knocked off their feet.
• The "Deciding Not to Decide" Trap: How FOMO splits your progress Jason hits a brilliant breakthrough on how the attention economy tricks us into keeping options open. Learn why floating in indecision liquidates your capacity for breakthroughs.
• Concentrating Your Meta-Values: The World Champion Allocation How Jana and Jason aimed their combined time, energy, attention, and resources to secure a World Championship victory. Discover how setting a season of emphasis creates predictable success.
• Reeling It In: Closing thoughts on protecting your underlying assets Wrapping up with a call to audit your daily meta-value investments. Access the closing invitation to subscribe, protect your focus, and keep Living Lucky®.

meta values, energy management, attention economy, time energy attention resources, deciding not to decide, sickness baseline audit, seasonal focus windows, luck activation formula, the four-minute formula, living lucky frameworks

Transcript

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What You Are Really Spending

Jana Shelfer 0:00

You're spending something far more valuable than money right now, something that you can't get back.

Speaker 2 0:05

Time, energy, attention, and resources.

Jana Shelfer 0:10

What are you spending your life on? Let's talk about it. I'm Jana. I'm Jason. And we are Living Lucky®.

Speaker 2 0:31

You are too.

Jana Shelfer 0:32

We're talking about energy.

Speaker 2 0:36

That's energy. Thank you,

Meta Values Explained Simply

Speaker 2 0:39

Joe.

Jana Shelfer 0:39

That's Joe Dispenso's way of saying it. We all have values. We have values. I mean, when most people think of their values, they're like, oh, my health.

Speaker 2 0:50

Honesty, integrity.

Jana Shelfer 0:51

Yeah.

Speaker 2 0:52

All kinds of values.

Jana Shelfer 0:53

Character values, emotional values, health values, relationship values. However, we're talking about meta values. Meta values are things like time, energy, attention, attention, and resources. And these are all things that are partially renewable or not renewable.

Speaker 2 1:18

Yeah, like time is non-renewable.

Jana Shelfer 1:20

We all have 24 hours, right? We've heard that before.

Speaker 2 1:23

And we all have, we're all going to have our the sand in our hourglasses gonna run out at some point.

Jana Shelfer 1:29

Did you just say the same?

Speaker 2 1:30

The sand.

Jana Shelfer 1:31

Okay, because I I think the sane in my hourglasses has run out.

Speaker 2 1:36

Some people, the same in your hourglass is running out also. That's funny.

Jana Shelfer 1:41

Attention. I know for me, my attention is it feels like it's getting smaller.

Speaker 2 1:48

Well, we're running attention economy right now, right? So it's it's training that attention muscle to, hey, what is it that is important to me? What do I want to pay attention to? And how do I train my attention to stay here?

Jana Shelfer 2:00

But it also feels like there's so many more things available.

Speaker 2 2:05

There are.

Jana Shelfer 2:06

That it's it's like, woo, woo, woo. Yeah, shiny objects.

Speaker 2 2:10

In the 70s and 80s, you could just pay attention to go out and ride your bike until it's dark. You know? That was that was what you could pay attention to, because otherwise you go back home and you watch three channels of television.

Jana Shelfer 2:22

Or do chores. And you got to be your own remote control. That's right.

Speaker 2 2:25

Get out and change the channel, lazy bumpkin.

Sickness Makes Energy Visible

Jana Shelfer 2:28

The reason we're talking about this today is because Jason has been sick. Sick, sick, sick.

Speaker 2 2:37

I caught the creepy crud.

Jana Shelfer 2:39

What's it called?

Speaker 2 2:40

The creepy crud. That sinus and drainage and sore throat.

Jana Shelfer 2:45

Yeah. That um that sleepy stinks.

Speaker 2 2:49

That can't sleep coffee.

Jana Shelfer 2:50

So you don't get your rest.

Speaker 2 2:51

Did you say stinky?

Jana Shelfer 2:52

Well, it ha it's not a stink.

Speaker 2 2:56

Yes, I smell.

Jana Shelfer 2:56

No, I don't mean it that way.

Speaker 2 2:58

I can't smell anything, so maybe I do. I've been trying my best to keep my hygiene up. Hi, Gene. Thanks for joining.

Jana Shelfer 3:07

No, we like it when Gene joins. No, you've been sick though.

Speaker 2 3:15

I have, very, under the weather.

Jana Shelfer 3:17

And what we realized is when you're sick, energy is so apparent to us and how we what am I going to be able to show up for today? Yes.

Speaker 2 3:30

And and what like just cooking yesterday. Because I I'm the the cook in the family. I'm the chef. You know, that's uh, and I take pride in it. I enjoy it. You're my sous chef.

Jana Shelfer 3:41

I like to cut the vegetables. I can I can cut a cucumber.

Speaker 2 3:45

I know you can. Word. You can make a mean salad. But it's do I have the energy and the stamina to stand over the stove or to to get things ready for the oven? I know. Yesterday I was like, I I don't know that I can do this today.

Jana Shelfer 4:02

I know. How many times yesterday did I say, Are you hungry? Uh I'm kind of getting hungry.

Speaker 2 4:07

Like, I don't know if I'm hungry or not. I know it sh I it it's time to eat. I haven't eaten in a long time. And and my body needs stuff, but it's I don't have the energy to do it.

Jana Shelfer 4:18

I kept hinting. I'm like, I'm really getting hungry here. I'm like, what do we have to eat?

Speaker 2 4:24

Crawling to the fridge. Janet's like, I'm crawling to the I'm thirsty. I'm hungry.

Jana Shelfer 4:30

I was literally going to the pantry. I'm like, what can I make myself? What can I make here? We didn't have.

Speaker 2 4:35

We stopped having cereal 19 years ago. Years ago.

Jana Shelfer 4:38

I know we used to have cereal Sunday where I always could have a bowl of cereal.

Speaker 2 4:42

Always have something in the house that's easy to make.

Jana Shelfer 4:45

We had peanut butter, but nothing to bring the peanut butter to go on.

Speaker 2 4:48

Put it on a fork.

Jana Shelfer 4:49

Oh, and I'm like, oh my gosh, what is in here that I could eat? So I literally I hinted at it so many times, and finally I was like, I'm ordering a pizza. I I don't care that we're trying to drop a few pounds. I am ordering a pizza. I'm starving. So I guess the whole point of this is that it was just very it made me very aware yesterday of how important our energy is and protecting our energy as well.

Speaker 2 5:22

Yeah, it's it's very uh it's apparent, and a lot of times we can we can look at some of the things that are getting our attention. And because a lot of my energy and attention is going into wellness and like just feeling better, and how do I how can I show up where I need to show up? Because we do have a business to run. I know we do have like you just hear me? Oh I love creating, I'm not necessarily the business person, yeah. But we've got some big meetings this week, right? So it's like, how do I make sure that I I maintain the energy to get to those and show up for those and and am well enough for that? And that's that's one of the big things. Food is important, like nourishment is important.

Jana Shelfer 6:10

I also though think sometimes when you get sick, you like to just push through.

Speaker 2 6:15

Right.

Pushing Through Versus Rest

Jana Shelfer 6:16

You don't necessarily like to it's almost like you don't have that I don't have the off button, the stop point to say, okay, you know what? I need to take care of myself. You were I mean, you were m so busy taking care of your parents over the weekend, you were wanting to take care of everyone else, right? Except for your adult.

Speaker 2 6:36

It didn't really hit me until um coming back from Atlanta, and I was like, this is definitely a something. Like I I got something. And I don't know where it came from, but it came out of nowhere and hit me like a Mac truck.

Jana Shelfer 6:52

And then here's here's what I realized about myself is that I often get my energy from you.

Speaker 2 7:01

Oh, you little energy sucker.

Jana Shelfer 7:03

I am I am an energy sucker. Well, it's because I feel like other people suck energy from me. So I like it.

Speaker 2 7:12

Energy is contagious.

Jana Shelfer 7:13

I know, I know it is, and I think we feed off of each other.

Speaker 2 7:18

So that that's one of the things because it was one thing, it was hard for me just being away from you. I love being around you.

Jana Shelfer 7:24

Thank you.

Speaker 2 7:25

There's a because you give me energy, I want to to to have energy for you. Yeah, well, like that's one of my joys in life. You know, it's when I show up the best I can for you, I get to show up the best I can for the world. Oh that's well, it's true.

Jana Shelfer 7:44

That just makes my heart warm and fuzzy. Thank you.

Speaker 2 7:47

Well, and I think my clients appreciate that because they get the benefit of the way I show up for you for them. And that that's I I'll take that every day.

Metaphors Detour And A Reset

Speaker 2 8:00

Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere, folks. We'll be right back. That's my medicine talking. Sorry.

Jana Shelfer 8:08

I think I'm gonna cut that part out. You can cut it, leave it, I don't care.

Speaker 2 8:14

After these messages. Pay attention, pay attention. That's uh just one of those things.

Speaker 8:23

I'm just gonna be silent and let you keep riffing.

Speaker 2 8:25

Oh, let me riff. Let me riff. But be careful because I'll get on a metaphor roll here in a minute.

Speaker 8:32

Tell me more.

Speaker 2 8:33

No, no, so we did that yesterday.

Speaker 8:36

Please.

Speaker 2 8:37

No. So we're talking about the meta four. Not metaphors. We're talking about energy, time, attention.

Speaker 8:54

What are they called? Meta values.

Speaker 2 9:02

Meta values. Thank you. It's a new term for me. I like it though.

Speaker 9:10

Oh sorry.

Speaker 2 9:12

You hit me with it this morning and I was like, meta values, I like meta values. I don't know anything about them, but I like them.

Speaker 9:18

You should always do a podcast when you're high on cold medicine.

Speaker 2 9:24

Load up.

Speaker 9:28

Oh, Jason.

Speaker 2 9:30

Metaphors, meta values, assimiles, all that. Analogies. Yeah, my analogies are acting up. Excuse me. Oh.

Speaker 9:50

I'm sorry, I got the giggles.

Jana Shelfer 9:53

Yesterday, we went on this riff about analogies and metaphors and because I love metaphors. He had me in stitches. I don't know. If you've been following us for even a day, you will realize that we will be in a conversation and all of a sudden we will have a metaphor about water. And then all of a sudden, we'll have metaphors about squirrels. Squirrels or road trips or rainbows.

Speaker 2 10:21

Or taking an airplane from the east coast of the United States to Paris.

Jana Shelfer 10:26

And we'll be talking about the exact same thing. We just like using multiple metaphors.

Speaker 10:33

Very different metaphors. And sometimes people will start emailing us and they're like, wait, I don't understand what we're talking about.

Speaker 2 10:39

Are you mixing your metaphors? Maybe. It's like a metaphor recipe going on in here. These are our meta-values with metaphors.

Jana Shelfer 10:51

Okay. Back on track.

Speaker 2 10:53

Not to confuse

Choosing Focus In The Attention Economy

Speaker 2 10:54

anyone.

Jana Shelfer 10:54

We are talking about meta values. It's not metaphors. Meta values are your time, your energy, your attention. Your attention and your resources. And when I talk about resources, I'm talking about your money or maybe your network of relationships, the people you know, the resources that you have access to.

Speaker 2 11:20

Invest towards.

Jana Shelfer 11:21

Time is a definitive amount of Yeah.

Speaker 2 11:26

You've got 24 hours in a day, you've got X number of days in a year, and you've got X number of years in a life.

Jana Shelfer 11:32

If you want to look at it like that. I mean, I know there's going to be some people out there that are going to say, well, if you want to talk quantum physics, we could, you know, go around that all day long. And then and then they would say, well, all day long, that's the time. No, it is a time.

Speaker 2 11:49

And I've got a metaphor for that.

Jana Shelfer 11:52

And then we have what so which ones have we?

Speaker 2 11:57

Attention is Attention is the one that uh we're all struggling with right now because we're high on cool medicine. Well, that and there's just so much to pay attention to.

Jana Shelfer 12:07

Exactly.

Speaker 2 12:08

And our brains are trying to figure out what's important to us because most of us haven't identified what the most important things are to us.

Jana Shelfer 12:16

And I actually feel that you know we may be evolving into something different to where we are widening our our scope. Our scope of what we notice. And so it is harder and harder to filter out all everything, you know, because we do want to experience everything and not miss out on opportunities or something that interests.

Speaker 2 12:47

And it's saying there's so many possibilities. So inside we know there's so many possibilities, and then we we decide we make the decision not to decide.

Jana Shelfer 12:56

Oh gosh, that's so good. That's so good, right there.

Speaker 2 13:00

So it's a and it might be a subconscious decision not to decide because we have this fear of missing out. But if we just decide that this is what I want now, yeah, like this is what I want to pay attention to, this is what I want to put my energy towards now for the next year, for the like the skiing competition that we just did or for 2025, you know? This is what we want now, and we put all of our meta values into you becoming world champion. You know, I'm not gonna say everybody is gonna be able to be world champion. Like if everybody picks world champion this year, everybody can't do it. But if you pour all your meta values into it, you have a better shot because you're putting your time, your attention, your energy, and your resources. And that's what we did. And that's kind of the whole Living Lucky®

Turning Meta Values Into Direction

Speaker 2 13:53

formula. You put the the luck activation formula in it, and then you put the reflection formula in at the end of it, yeah, and it helps you keep focused on all these meta-values, and that's how you create a basically a track of your investments of these meta-values. And it says, this is what's important to me for now, and this is where I'm going, keeps me directional, and keeps me focused on what I'm looking forward to and what I'm gaining and and where like keeps me on track to where I'm going.

Jana Shelfer 14:29

Thanks for reeling me back in because I've got the giggles today.

Speaker 2 14:34

I love it.

Jana Shelfer 14:34

We will continue this topic on another day. Thanks for joining us. Pete Living Lucky. Bye bye.