Energy / Money Source & Use — Where It Comes From, Where It Goes
Building Holistic Thinking Muscle
Week 5: Energy / Money Source & Use
When value is created, the next question is:
Where is it coming from — and where is it going?
By now you have checked:
Cause & Effect.
Weak Link.
Marginal Reaction.
Gross Profit Analysis.
You have identified actions and enterprises that make sense.
Now we ask a deeper question:
Are they built on the right foundations?
Not all energy and money are equal.
Every action requires energy, money, or both.
This check asks two questions:
Is the energy or money to be used derived from the most appropriate SOURCE?
Will the way in which that energy or money is USED be in line with our holistic context?
At first glance, money is money. Energy is energy.
But in practice, their source and their use shape the future of the whole.
Some sources strengthen you. Others weaken you.
Energy and money come from different places.
Some are abundant and renewing.
Others are limited and depleting.
For example:
• Sunlight captured through grass is abundant.
• Diesel burned in machinery is limited.
Both can be used productively.
But they do not carry the same long-term implications.
The same is true for money:
• Internal money comes from the business itself.
• External money comes with conditions — interest, expectations, or dependency.
Whenever possible, relying on internal sources tends to strengthen independence.
A practical example: feeding cattle
Imagine two ways of feeding livestock.
Option 1: Purchase imported feed.
Option 2: Improve grazing management to grow more grass.
Both may increase production.
But they draw on very different sources.
Purchased feed relies on:
• External inputs.
• Ongoing cost.
• Supply chains beyond your control.
Improved grazing relies on:
• Sunlight.
• Soil health.
• Management skill.
One system becomes increasingly dependent.
The other becomes increasingly resilient.
The production may look similar.
The foundation is not.
Use of energy and money matters as much as source.
This check is not only about where money or energy comes from.
It is also about how it is used.
Some uses build lasting value:
• Infrastructure.
• Fencing.
• Knowledge.
• Soil improvement.
Other uses are consumptive. They are necessary, but they leave nothing behind:
• Fuel.
• Routine inputs.
• Short-term fixes.
Building or cyclical uses — where energy renews or money continues to generate returns — are generally preferable to purely consumptive uses.
Beware of addiction.
This is where the check becomes particularly important.
Some uses of money or energy create dependency.
There are clear warnings:
• Fossil fuel dependency.
• Borrowed money with compound interest.
• Subsidies that can be withdrawn.
These can become addictive.
Not in the emotional sense.
In the structural sense.
They require you to repeat the same action again and again, often with increasing cost.
And once embedded, they are difficult to unwind.
This is not about avoiding all inputs.
It is about awareness.
Many necessary costs are consumptive.
Fuel.
Professional services.
Maintenance.
If an action passes the other checks, it will often pass this one.
The aim is not perfection.
It is to avoid drifting into patterns that weaken the whole over time.
The discipline
When checking a decision, ask:
• Where is the energy or money coming from?
• Does that source strengthen or weaken the whole?
• How is it being used?
• Does that use build something lasting, or require repeated input?
These questions are simple.
But they reveal a great deal.
Small shifts, long consequences
Two decisions can look identical today.
Same cost.
Same output.
But over time:
One builds resilience.
The other builds dependency.
Energy / Money Source & Use helps you see that difference early.
Next week
This week we explored:
“Where is value coming from and going?”
Next week, Sustainability asks:
“Where is all of this leading?”
