I was with my daughter at a film festival which had been sponsored by Chipotle, and the following commercial played at the beginning of every show. (Watch it in a minute.) It’s beautifully produced, nostalgic, and powerfully, vaguely inspiring, and after four or five views through the weekend, it grew a little tiresome.

Then on the last night of the festival, as we all sat in the dark anticipating the awards, we watched it again, and at the moment when Willie Nelson and the song take a thoughtful pause, someone in the audience shouted to the screen, “What are you going to do Willie?”

Willie answered, “I’m going back to the start.”

For the last 6 months I haven’t written much. I have some other big goals I’m working on, and I’ve let the Pilot Fire fire cool a little. I’m going back to the start, but it’s not what you think. Yes, this post is the first in a long time. I made it short so I’d start and finish it, and in a way writing is where Pilot Fire started, but something more basic called to me before I could write again. I think too often we ignore this basic truth:

Everything we start starts better when we have the energy.

“The Start” is with the Stoker, the role we play that kindles the fire of our Vitality.

I’ll tell you more about my big goals and the adventures of my last few months soon enough, but today is about dealing with the effects: my energy was dwindling, my anxiety was making more frequent visits, and my injuries weren’t healing.

The start is simple: Stoke the Fire. Eat well. Sleep regularly. Move a lot.

My blogging mentor Chris Garret said it well,

“Time management isn’t the issue, really. If I take care of my energy, time seems to manage itself.”†

I’m doing it. It works. It’s the right place to start.

What are you going to do today to take care of your energy?

Here’s the commercial. At minute 1:25 allow yourself to shout, “What are you going to do Willie!?” Then get off your butt and stoke your fire!

† Chris tweeted something to this effect. I don’t think it’s the actual quote. I’ll find out. (Okay, not his exact words, but he’s happy to take credit for them since neither of us can find that tweet.