by
marcia on Oct 10, 2009 at 6:20 AM
We always try to manage our time more efficiently, yet there still never seems to be enough. That’s because time isn’t really the issue in the first place. The issue isn’t time – or time management. It’s energy. We need to rethink much of what we’ve always believed about organizing our lives. According to Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their book The Power of Full Engagement, the skillful management of energy – individually and organizationally – makes full engagement possible. They say, “To be fully engaged in our lives, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest.” We tend to take energy for granted, assuming we have unlimited amounts of it. We don’t take the time for recovery or renewal. We refuse to admit we get tired or forgetful. We don’t appreciate the impact focus and energy have on our successful interactions with others. Loehr and Schwartz give us four important principles for managing energy:
- Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
- Because energy capacity diminishes with both overuse and under-use, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.
- To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way elite athletes do.
- Positive energy rituals – highly specific routines for managing energy – are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.
Attaining full engagement in life involves having positive habits or rituals that will help you connect with your deep sense of purpose. Such practices help us to conserve energy rather than deplete it. These practices may include writing in a journal, meditating, engaging in a regular workout routine, reading something inspirational, or looking daily at your vision statement of what you’re trying to achieve in life. They help connect you to your purpose and compliment the changes you make to help improve physical energy. Together, they can help you to manage your energy and achieve high performance.
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