Life on full power. Energy management is the key to high performance, health and happiness Tony Schwartz, Jim Lauer
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Title: Life at full power. Energy management is the key to high performance, health and happiness
Author: Tony Schwartz, Jim Lauer
Year: 2010
Genre: Foreign business literature, Foreign applied and popular science literature, Health, Popular about business
About the book "Life at full power. Energy management is the key to high performance, health and happiness.” Tony Schwartz, Jim Lauer
How to achieve greater efficiency and productivity in life? Many are sure that this is almost impossible, especially if you work from morning to night, do household chores. There is simply no time for rest, not to mention the fact that there is a desire to improve oneself, read books, go in for sports. But, in fact, there is a way out, you just need to correctly approach all the things that you do every day, and what you plan to do in the future.
The book "Life at full power. Energy management is the key to high efficiency, health and happiness " Tony Schwartz, Jim Lauer will tell you how to accumulate the very energy that will help you not only work more productively, but also be able to take care of yourself.
The point is to be able to rest properly. You work, waste your energy, and you won’t be able to do anything else normally. Today, people are distracted by extraneous things thanks to social networks and other entertainment sites. You also spend time and effort on this, although they could be directed in another direction. That is, you get tired of both work and the fact that you are constantly distracted.
You will not be able to live a full and vibrant life if you are emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted. Strength can and should be accumulated, but this must be done gradually. Tony Schwartz and Jim Lauer talk about all the stages in their book Life at Full Power. Energy management is the key to high performance, health and happiness.”
The authors accurately noticed that today people are really very tired and exhausted. Unfortunately, such rules are dictated by the modern world with its crazy rhythm. If you want to survive, run forward as fast as possible. And it is not surprising that many simply cannot reach the heights they so dream of. There just isn't enough power. Tony Schwartz, Jim Lauer offer their own method for distributing time, dividing it into work and leisure, as well as a way to save energy so that later you can spend it on something really important. In addition, the book addresses such an issue as the "comfort zone", which is also very relevant today.
The book "Life at full power. Energy Management is the Key to High Efficiency, Health, and Happiness” is small, but it has the useful information, which is necessary for realizing that you need to change something in your life. Moreover, here you will find ways to solve your problems, you will be able to allocate time more effectively, relax, enjoy life, do your favorite things, and at the same time work more efficiently and productively. And all this is really possible, it is only important to treat your life and yourself correctly.
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Quotes from the book "Life at full power. Energy management is the key to high performance, health and happiness.” Tony Schwartz, Jim Lauer
Simply put, the key "muscles" to achieve a positive emotional state are self-confidence, self-control, communication skills and empathy (the ability to empathize). The small, supportive “muscles” are patience, openness, trust, and enjoyment.
The key muscles that support optimal mental energy are task thinking, visualization, positive speaking, time management, and creativity.
Rituals are a tool effective management energy to carry out our mission.
Rituals are a means to translate our goals and priorities into action in all areas of our lives.
- All outstanding people rely on positive rituals to manage their energy and regulate their behavior.
– The limitations of conscious will and discipline are based on the fact that all actions that require our self-control refer to a very limited resource.
“We can compensate for our limited will and discipline by building rituals that quickly become automatic and based on our deepest values.
– Most important rule creating rituals is to ensure an effective balance between energy expenditure and energy recovery in order to achieve full power.
“The greater the pressure on us and the greater the challenge we face, the more rigorous the rituals must be.
– Accuracy and concreteness are the main characteristics when creating rituals in the initial period of one to two months.
– Trying not to do something quickly drains our limited reserves of will and discipline.
In order to achieve change that will have a lasting result, we must build “serial rituals”, focusing on only one significant change in a given period of time.
Comparing the pressures experienced by professional athletes and ordinary office workers, Loher and Schwartz came to the paradoxical conclusion: “The demands on ordinary people doing office work far exceed those of any professional athletes with whom we have worked.” Why is this happening? It's just that the life of athletes is better organized. And this is understandable. After all, athletes are always in sight, their regime is subordinated to a single goal - to win the competition, bring points to the team, set a record. The main feature of sports training is just a hard rhythm, the alternation of concentration and relaxation, the consumption of only those foods that give energy in the right quantities. And of course, control over emotions.
What is the most important for performance? Energy! Changing the cycles of activity and relaxation is necessary in order to efficiently spend and replenish energy. Stress only depresses us when it lasts and is not resolved. Ideally, stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol spur you on, give you the joy of activity and the desire to create. But when we experience moderate stress for a long time, we lose efficiency. Thus, argue Loher and Schwartz, it is not stress itself that is harmful, but the inability to manage it. By subjecting ourselves to strong but short-term stress, by doing things that are beyond our capabilities, we train our “energy lungs”. It is better to concentrate fully on a particular task in order to quickly get it over with than to prolong the process by "pumping" yourself with something sweet or exciting (for example, a cigarette) in an attempt to alleviate anxiety due to deadlines and requirements.
To achieve true efficiency, the authors of "Life at full power" call for taking sprinters as a model - breaking your activity into a series of intervals. To do this, you need to rebuild life in literally all areas. For example, determine the schedule of meals, sleep, do breathing exercises (deep and rhythmic breathing affects the supply of oxygen and the work of all organs). Our emotions also participate in the cycle of energy. They, too, can be subordinated to a certain rhythm. “Achieving full emotional power requires what the Stoic philosophers called “the interdependence of the virtues.” They believed that none of the virtues can exist by itself. Directness without delicacy, for example, can result in callousness. ultimate goal is the ability to easily and flexibly move from one feeling to the opposite.
The authors attach particular importance to daily rituals. It can be, for example, ten seconds of deep breathing and listening to your favorite music, calling home, running up the stairs several floors. The main thing is that at this moment we can completely distract ourselves from work and replenish energy. The more precisely we follow these rituals, the faster we can recover.
It is worth noting that the book "Life at full capacity" is written in line with modern approaches to performance, which actively borrow oriental traditions and techniques. Thus, the Japanese economic miracle became possible largely due to the clarity and rhythm of the work (or rather, life) of people, their high self-organization. Breath control and clear mind meditation, which are actively used by the same athletes, come from the arsenal of Indian yogis and spiritual practitioners. The main idea of the authors of “Life at Full Power” is also close to Eastern philosophy: external successes are impossible without inner harmony and subordinating your life to the natural rhythms of life.
Jim Lauer, Tony Schwartz
Life at full capacity. Energy management is the key to high performance, health and happiness
Foreword
The cure for downshifting
Many have been waiting for this book for a long time. They waited, still unaware of its existence, name and authors. They waited, leaving the office with a greenish face, drinking liters of coffee in the morning, not finding the strength to take on the next priority task, struggling with depression and despondency.
And finally we waited. There were experts who convincingly, extensively and practically answered the question of how to manage the level of personal energy. Moreover, in various aspects - physical, intellectual, spiritual ... What is especially valuable is practitioners who trained leading American athletes, FBI special forces and top managers of companies from the Fortune 500 list.
Admit it, reader, - when you came across another article about downshifting, you probably had the thought: “Maybe I should drop everything and wave somewhere in Goa or in a hut in the Siberian taiga? ..” The desire to drop everything and send everyone to any of the short and capacious Russian words is a sure sign of a lack of energy.
The problem of energy management is one of the key ones in self-management. One of the members of the Russian Time Management Community once came up with the formula "T1ME"-management - from the words "time, information, money, energy": "time, information, money, energy". Each of these four resources is critical to personal effectiveness, success, and development. And if there is quite a lot of literature on managing time, money and information, then there was a clear gap in the field of energy management. Which is finally starting to fill up.
In many ways, of course, one can argue with the authors. Undoubtedly, they, like many Western specialists, tend to absolutize their approach, rigidly oppose it to the “old paradigms” (for which, in fact, it is not a denial at all, but an organic continuation and development). But this does not detract from the main advantages of the book - relevance, simplicity, manufacturability.
Read, do everything and fill your Time with Energy!
Gleb Arkhangelsky, General Director of Time Management Company, founder of the Russian Time Management Community www.improvement.ru
Part one
Full power driving forces
1. At full power
The most precious resource is energy, not time
We live in the digital age. We race at full speed, our rhythms are accelerating, our days are cut into bytes and bits. We prefer breadth to depth and quick reaction to thoughtful decisions. We glide across the surface, hitting dozens of places for a few minutes, but never staying anywhere for long. We fly through life without pausing to think about who we really want to become. We're online, but we're offline.
Most of us just try to do the best we can. When demands exceed our capacity, we make decisions that help cut through the web of problems but devour our time. We sleep little, eat on the go, fuel ourselves with caffeine and soothe ourselves with alcohol and sleeping pills. Faced with relentless demands at work, we become irritable and easily distracted. After a long day at work, we return home completely exhausted and perceive the family not as a source of joy and recovery, but as another problem.
We have surrounded ourselves with diaries and to-do lists, PDAs and smartphones, instant messaging systems and reminders on computers. We believe this should help us manage our time better. We pride ourselves on multi-tasking, and our readiness to work from dawn to dusk is everywhere like a medal for bravery. The term "24/7" describes a world where the work never ends. We use the words "obsession", "crazy" not to describe madness, but to talk about the past working day. Feeling that there will never be enough time, we try to pack as many things as possible into each day. But even the most effective time management does not guarantee that we will have enough energy to do everything planned.
Are you familiar with such situations?
You are at an important four-hour meeting where not a second is wasted. But the last two hours you spend the rest of your strength only on fruitless attempts to concentrate;
- You carefully planned all 12 hours of the upcoming working day, but by the middle of it you completely lost your energy and became impatient and irritable;
- You are going to spend the evening with the children, but are so distracted by thoughts about work that you cannot understand what they want from you;
- Of course, you remember your wedding anniversary (the computer reminded you of this this afternoon), but you forgot to buy a bouquet, and you no longer have the strength to leave the house to celebrate.
Energy, not time, is the main currency of high efficiency. This thought turned our understanding of what is driving force high efficiency for a long time. She has led our clients to rethink how they manage their lives, both personally and professionally. Everything we do, from walking with our children to communicating with colleagues and making important decisions, requires energy. It seems obvious, but that's what we often forget about. Lacking the right quantity, quality, and focus of energy, we jeopardize every undertaking we undertake.
Each of our thoughts or emotions has energetic consequences - for better or for worse. The final evaluation of our life is not based on the amount of time we have spent on this planet, but on the basis of the energy we have invested in that time. The main idea of this book is quite simple: efficiency, health and happiness are based on the skillful management of energy.
Of course, there are bad bosses, a toxic work environment, difficult relationships, and life crises. However, we can control our energy much more completely and deeper than we imagine. The number of hours in a day is constant, but the quantity and quality of the energy available to us depends on us. And this is our most valuable resource. The more responsibility we take for the energy that we bring into the world, the stronger and more effective we become. And the more we blame other people and circumstances, the more our energy becomes negative and destructive.
If you could wake up tomorrow with more positive and focused energy that you could invest in your work and family, would that improve your life? If you are a leader or manager, would your positive energy change the work environment around you? If your employees could rely on more of your energy, would the relationship between them change and affect the quality of your own services?
Leaders are conductors of the energy of the organization - in their companies and families. They inspire or demoralize those around them—first by how effectively they manage their own energy, and then by how they mobilize, focus, invest, and renew the collective energy of their employees. Skillful management of energy, individual and collective, and makes possible what we call the achievement of full power.
To turn on the full power, we must be physically energetic, emotionally turned on, mentally focused and united in a common spirit to achieve goals that lie beyond our selfish interests. Working at full capacity begins with a desire to start early in the morning, an equal desire to return home in the evening, and a clear line between work and home. It means the ability to fully immerse yourself in the fulfillment of your mission, whether it is solving a creative problem, managing a group of employees, spending time with loved ones, or having fun. Working at full capacity implies the need for a fundamental change in lifestyle.
According to a 2001 Gallup poll, only 25% of employees American companies operate at full capacity. About 55% work half-heartedly. The remaining 20% are “actively opposed” to work, which means they are not only unhappy in their professional life, but they constantly share this feeling with colleagues. The damage from their presence at work is estimated at trillions of dollars. Even worse, the longer people work in an organization, the less energy they give to it. According to Gallup, after the first six months of operation, only 38% are fully operational. After three years, this figure drops to 22%. Look at your life from this point of view. How fully are you involved in the work? What about your colleagues?
Life at full capacity analyzes the four main types of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. These energies are interconnected, they can be spent and accumulated.
Jim Lauer, Tony Schwartz — About the Authors
Tony Schwartz is an American journalist and writer, bestselling author, founder and CEO.
Schwartz began his career as a journalist in 1975 and worked for the American media for 25 years. He wrote a column for The New York Post, was an assistant editor for Newsweek, a reporter for The New York Times, and a staff writer for New York Magazine and Esquire. In 1988, co-authored with Donald Trump, he published The Art of the Deal, which became a worldwide bestseller. In 1995, Tony Schwartz published What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America.
In 1998, he co-authored the book Risking Failure, Surviving Success with the future head of The Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner. From 1993 to 2003, Tony Schwartz led as CEO training company LGE Performance Systems. In 1999, in collaboration with Jim Loehr, chairman of the board of directors of LGE, he published the book “One hundred percent! How to organize a working day and succeed in business ”(eng. The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy Not Time).
The book became a #1 bestseller according to the Wall Street Journal, topped the New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks, was translated into 28 languages, including Russian In 2003, Schwartz founded The Energy Project, in 2005 a European branch was opened with headquarters near London May 2013 Schwartz writes a weekly column - DealBook - in the financial news section of The New York Times. (c) Wikipedia
Jim Lauer - Chairman and Executive Director Human Performance Institute, widely known for its work in the field of the psychology of high performance. Among the clients of its training center are hundreds of world-class athletes, police and secret services, rescue teams and FBI special forces. Since 1993, his center has successfully applied in practice independently developed training principles not only famous athletes, but also top managers. The authors of the book, Jim Lauer and Tony Schwartz, explain with reason how to do this and why it is important. In addition, they offer new approaches to managing our power and talk about various aspects that are essential for the formation of positive energy reserves.
Life at full power— Book Review
Energy
We all often experience fatigue, irritability, lack of motivation, and other symptoms. According to the authors, this is due to the loss of positive energy. Therefore, people must have a balance between expended energy and recovered energy. Often our performance is not in the ability to work long and hard, but in the ability to relax during breaks.
There are four main types of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. It is the interconnected and harmonious work of all these energy reserves that ensures life at full capacity. Energy can range from positive to negative, high to low, as shown in the illustration. The most effective are those whose energy runs between high positive energy (active work) and low positive energy (rest-recovery).
Physical Energy
Physical energy is one of the most important energies. It feeds all other forms of energy. Therefore, it is very important for people engaged in intellectual work to shift their attention to physical energy, performing any physical exercises.
Breathing, proper nutrition and sleep can also be attributed to physical energy.
emotional energy
Emotional energy can include your favorite activities and hobbies, hobbies, going to the theater, cinema, travel and much more. Emotional energy is what you want to do! It is very important to be able to shift your attention to emotional energy.
mental energy
Mental energy helps develop our personality and not stand still. It is worth noting here that our brain is very plastic and we can constantly improve its performance by giving it a mental load and learning something new.
spiritual energy
The authors understand spiritual energy not as a religious component, but as our values and goals. Spiritual energy makes us act, gives perseverance and perseverance. The main component of spiritual energy is our character, which must be cultivated in ourselves.
Training and practice
goal setting
Human development occurs from the bottom up - from the physical level to the spiritual. However, the changes must be directed in the opposite direction starting from the spiritual level.
By setting interesting goals for themselves, they become a powerful tool for accumulating positive energy. The main thing to remember is that the goal must be positive, the goal must be yours, the goal should not be selfish.
It is also important to experience true values in our characters - kindness, mercy, care, etc. Values become our virtues when we act in accordance with them.
Be honest with yourself
Pay attention to your negative and positive aspects. Self-study should become a permanent habit. Listen to your inner self. Be flexible - try to critically evaluate your established ideas
Positive Rituals - Energy Management Tools
According to various estimates, we can instill in ourselves any habit in the period from 7 to 30 days.
It is necessary to leave the comfort zone and instill rituals gradually so as not to break too quickly. Do not take on too many obligations at once, promising to completely change your life from the new year or from Monday. Try to focus on one important change in a certain time period.
Rituals based on deep values are the best tools for energy management. They allow you to consolidate good habits, set new priorities, change your lifestyle and train the “muscles” of our energies.
Bestselling authors of Life at Full Power, Tony Schwartz and Jim Lauer, have been psychological preparation entrepreneurs, top managers, athletes, employees of rescue and special services. In their book, Schwartz and Lauer talk about how to combine intensive work, a happy personal life, physical and mental health; about how to manage the main types of energy and create reserves of positive energy; about why it is important to be able to set goals and create positive rituals. With permission from SmartReading, we are publishing a summary ("condensed" version) of Loer and Schwartz's book. The publication will be useful for entrepreneurs, top managers, middle managers, focused on career growth.
smartreading is a project of the co-founder of one of the leading Russian publishing houses of business literature "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber" Mikhail Ivanov and his partners. SmartReading produces so-called summaries - texts that summarize the key ideas of bestsellers in the non-fiction genre. Thus, people who for some reason cannot quickly read full versions books, can get acquainted with their main ideas and theses. SmartReading uses a subscription business model in its work.
Introduction
We used to think that one of our main resources is time, and it is in the right time management that the secret of efficiency lies. The book "Life at full capacity" states that the main value modern man- energy. You can make an ideal plan for the day, in which there will be enough time for everything, but if there is not enough energy to implement what was planned, then even well-thought-out timing will not save. Energy makes it possible not only to work effectively, but also to maintain harmonious relationships within the family, remember about health and your own hobbies, and maintain a positive attitude.
Life at Full Power analyzes the four main types of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. These energies are interconnected, they can be spent and accumulated. They must be developed and strengthened, maintaining a balance between intensive work and full recovery, training your energy “muscles” in the same way as athletes train their muscles.
The authors of the book, Jim Lauer and Tony Schwartz, explain with reason how to do this and why it is important. In addition, they offer new approaches to managing our power and talk about various aspects that are essential for the formation of positive energy reserves.
1. Energy
1.1. Balance between spending
and energy recovery
Imagine the lifestyle of the average middle-aged ambitious manager working in developing company. Hundreds of emails a day, ever-expanding responsibilities, lack of time for physical activity, late returns home and reduced time spent with family. As a result of workload - malnutrition: lack of a nutritious breakfast (no time - you have to rush to work), snacking in the office with muffins and low-quality coffee from the machine, fast food for lunch, late dinners with clients (accompanied by alcohol).
The result is a loss of positive energy in all directions: fatigue, irritability, lack of motivation, separation from loved ones, memory impairment.
Despite the incredible workload and intense work, such a life can hardly be called a “life at full capacity”, rather it is a “life of the last strength”, fraught with nervous breakdowns, downshifting or heart attacks.
In Japan, for several years now, the term "karoshi" has been used, meaning death from overwork, common among Japanese workaholics.
What to do? Giving up a well-paid, and in many cases also a favorite job? Or work carelessly? According to polls, about 55% of Americans work half-heartedly, and 20% harm their employer with a negative attitude towards work. Downshifting and neglecting one's duties is not an option, since insufficient energy expenditure is no less harmful to our energy capabilities than its overexpenditure. You can draw an analogy with the muscles: if they are constantly overstrained and deprived of rest - they are damaged, if they do not work (in bedridden patients) - they atrophy.
The way out of the impasse is the ability to alternate periods of active energy expenditure with periods of its full recovery. The world around us lives according to rhythmic laws - the day follows the night, the season is followed by the season. Our body also exists in cycles - there are cycles of sleep and wakefulness, which in turn are divided into cycles of fast superficial and deep sleep, active and passive wakefulness.
Fluctuating hormone levels, brain activity, muscle activity. But, despite this, people often ignore the cyclical nature of life and live "linearly" - working at a certain level of strength, ignoring fatigue and other signals that the body sends us. When the forces end and the energy is depleted, then you have to create rhythm artificially, relaxing with the help of alcohol, cigarettes or caffeine.
The key to efficiency lies in the organization of a healthy rhythm of life and in finding the right balance between spending energy and replenishing it, between rest and work.
Everyone can find time and opportunities to replenish their energy resources. Someone during frequent business flights vetoes work on an airplane, devoting these hours only to watching their favorite films or reading fiction. Someone walks through the office, finding out what subordinates are working on. Someone takes a short walk, calls family, paints, leaves for the weekend with the family and turns off the phone.
There are many possibilities, it all depends on the specific situation.
1.2. A new look at stress
The familiar paradigm tells us that stress is a priori evil. It is the cause of heart attacks, strokes, gastritis and depression. The new paradigm claims that things are not so simple. Stress makes us expand our capabilities - physical, mental, mental.
If you alternate stress with a commensurate recovery, then it brings tangible benefits. Repeating the parallel with the work of the muscles - subjecting them to periodically increased loads, followed by relaxation, we prepare them for even greater loads. Stress works the same way - it prepares us for even greater accomplishments by creating a reserve of power.
Many will say that our life is already full of stress in order to create them artificially. Therefore, you can not constantly live in a state of stress - it is really very, very dangerous. Stress (physical, emotional, mental) should be temporary. And after it, regular replenishment of energy is necessary - rest or a pleasant change of activity. But this is exactly what is missing in the lives of people complaining of constant stress.
Getting used to stress can be tricky because we tend to resist anything that goes out of our comfort zone. But once we get out of this limiting zone, we get real pleasure from the new resources that open up inside us. These moments become the best and most memorable in our lives.
1.3. Energy Dynamics
Man is a rather intricate energy system in which four main types of energy can be distinguished: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. It is the interconnected and harmonious work of all these energy reserves that ensures life at full capacity.
Energy can range from positive to negative, high to low, as shown in the illustration. The most effective are those whose energy runs between high positive energy (active work) and low positive energy (rest-recovery).
Negative energy is harmful to its owner, because it burns energy reserves very quickly. It becomes a serious barrier on the way to the goal, success and a happy, fulfilling life, and can threaten life as such, leading to serious illnesses.
Leaders - managers and organizers - broadcast their energy to subordinates, so they need to carefully monitor the balance of their energy resources.
1.4. physical energy
Physical energy is the fuel for other types of energy resources, primarily for emotional and mental energy. People engaged in intellectual work often underestimate the importance of this type of energy for their work and life. Meanwhile, physical energy and endurance are the foundations of life that ensure our performance. Proper nutrition and breathing, good sleep, physical activity help maintain a person's energy reserves.
Breathing is one of the defining regulators of physical activity, which is accustomed to paying unacceptably little attention. In case of danger, we begin to breathe too shallowly, which leads to a reduction in oxygen supply and a decrease in physical, mental and even emotional energy. It is helpful to learn to control your breathing by practicing simple breathing exercises. Or at least learn to breathe deeply, smoothly and measuredly. And remember that a long exhalation promotes relaxation: for example, if you count up to three while inhaling, and up to six while exhaling, you can relieve excitement and relax.
The next important source of energy is food. Our efficiency is negatively affected by both overeating and undereating. To maintain a sufficient level of positive physical energy, you should avoid large breaks between meals, eating 5-6 times a day, but in small, low-calorie portions. The most important meal of the day should be breakfast, which kicks off the metabolism after a long night.
It is preferable that foods that give a uniform energy intake prevail in food: whole grains, foods with a low glycemic index (apples, pears, strawberries, nuts, dried fruits, beans, cabbage, tomatoes), proteins. Foods with a high glycemic index are poor energy providers, providing only short-term satisfaction of hunger.
Water helps to restore energy intensively. But we must bear in mind that, unlike the feeling of hunger that comes at the moment when it is time to refresh ourselves, we begin to feel thirsty when the loss of water in the body already becomes significant. At the same time, the loss of only 3 percent of the fluid is fraught for the muscles with a loss of 10 percent of the strength. In addition, lack of water contributes to a deterioration in concentration and increased blood viscosity, leading to heart disease. So water (namely water, and non-caffeinated drinks that promote fluid loss) should be drunk as often as possible - about 1.5–2 liters per day, without waiting for signals from your own body.
An important factor in replenishing energy is sleep. Lack of sleep causes a sharp loss of energy, a decrease in concentration, fatigue, memory impairment, a weakening of logical abilities and a general decrease in efficiency.
As with food, too much sleep is as bad as not getting enough sleep. The optimal sleep time for an adult is 7-8 hours. When choosing a time to go to bed, one should take into account natural rhythms - early going to bed and early awakening are preferable, close to the cycles of wildlife. Night wakefulness, night shifts deal a serious blow to the energy resources of the body.
Even minimal exercise can bring significant benefits. As modern studies show, the most effective are not long-term uniform loads, but interval training, in which the pulse rhythmically either accelerates or slows down. This can be aerobic exercise several times a week, consisting of alternating one-minute intensive and more relaxed exercises. Or cycling, alternating fast and slow pace.
In addition to training that strengthens the cardiovascular system, strength training is also important. With age, their value increases, because after forty years a person, in the absence of regular physical activity, loses about a quarter kilogram of muscle mass every year.
1.5. emotional energy
For a full and vibrant life, we need positive emotions, such as joy, interest in new things, pleasure from communication, healthy adventurism. Therefore, it is important not to forget about the emotional component of your life, to be able to switch and find time for what you really enjoy doing.
So that the tank of emotional energy does not empty, it is important to do what fills it, makes us more confident and brings joy: go to the theater, meet friends, draw, sing, play sports, listen to music, embroider, write poetry and so on.
Self-confidence, self-discipline, empathy, and communication skills are the muscle system of positive emotional energy. This system can be strengthened in the same way as we strengthen muscles - with the help of alternating tension and relaxation, leaving the “comfort zone”
It is important to learn to experience the full range of feelings, not to reject your emotions, to experience them and not be afraid to be, for example, overly sentimental or frank. Otherwise, life will not be harmonious, because honesty without tact can turn into rudeness, and rationality without generosity - into stinginess.
For effective management, a leader needs to be able to maintain a reserve of positive emotional energy even under conditions of stress and very intensive work, including in order to support and motivate his subordinates.
1.6. mental energy
Mental energy determines our life and our development, allowing us to concentrate on solving the most important problems and tasks that confront us.
How often best ideas and solutions to complex problems come to our minds not at the desk, but during a walk, in bed before going to bed, while taking a bath. Remember Mendeleev, to whom his famous table came in its ideal form in a dream, at the moment of greatest relaxation. This suggests that periods of rest and recovery are especially important for our brain and our mental energy.
The brain needs this quiet time to process and systematize the information received. When his rational left hemisphere is tired and exhausted in finding a solution, the creative right hemisphere comes into play, which finds unexpected and interesting solutions at an intuitive-unconscious level.
In maintaining reserves of positive mental energy important role reasonable optimism plays - a realistic awareness of the world and a positive attitude towards it. Our brain is so plastic that it is never too late to improve its performance. When we learn something new, our brain creates new neural connections, that is, the brain develops and forms a reserve of mental energy. Therefore, it is important at any age to show interest in new knowledge and skills. This will allow for a long time to maintain the working capacity and efficiency of the brain, save memory and intelligence. Train your brain with new tasks and new ideas.
The work of the brain directly depends on the physical condition of the whole body. Even small sports activities improve the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain, stimulate the production chemical substances preventing the destruction of brain cells. This greatly improves brain activity.
1.7. spiritual energy
Spiritual energy in this context is devoid of a religious component. It is determined by our non-selfish goals and values - an adequate balance between concern for other people and attention to ours. own desires and needs.
Spiritual energy determines what we want to spend other energy resources on - physical, emotional, mental. It makes us act, gives perseverance and perseverance.
The "muscle" of spiritual energy is our character, which must be educated, sometimes subjecting it to stress and trials. You can restore spiritual energy by communicating with art and nature, solitude, prayer. Spiritual practices, such as meditation, also help replenish energy reserves, but may also require the expenditure of spiritual energy.
2. Training and practice
2.1. goal setting
If development occurs from the bottom up, from the physical level to the spiritual, then changes must be introduced from the top down, starting from the spiritual level. After all, it is at the spiritual level that the goal for which we are ready to spend all our energy is determined in the first place. The goal itself is one of the strongest generators of energy.
The goal becomes a strong and long-term generator of positive energy under three conditions:
If the target is positive. A negative goal is more often defensive in nature and is aimed not at achieving, but at solving specific problems. It generates negative energy - anger, aggression, anxiety.
If the goal is the person's own goal, and not set from outside. Intrinsic motivation is stronger than extrinsic. In this regard, the question arises, to what extent is the pursuit of a goal related to reward? Many people tend to think that reward is the strongest motivator, but studies have shown the opposite. For example, children who enjoyed solving puzzles began to show less interest in them when the researchers introduced a system of rewards for completing the task.
If the goal is not completely selfish and extends to other people. It is easy to see that professional quality employees who are motivated only by their salary and working conditions are usually inferior to the qualities of similarly trained employees whose interests go beyond their own.
New ideas, life problems and even pain can be a signal for changes in life and for setting a new goal. When a person thinks about the need for change, then his actions usually follow the following chain:
Signal for change => Goal setting => Finding a teacher => Fighting yourself => Winning => New goal
But many people are generally not inclined to set goals for themselves, preferring to move on "autopilot", struggling with minor troubles and not finding the strength and time to set more global goals. Paradoxically, many workaholics who work hard day in and day out turn out to be pathologically lazy when it comes to the slightest changes in their lifestyle.
If you don't have a goal, you are easily broken and more susceptible to life's problems. Take some time to prioritize, don't skim the surface of your life, look deeper.
We all know and admire the true values - kindness, sensitivity, nobility, devotion, honesty, mercy. But the fact that we respect these values does not mean that we live by them. Values become our dignity when we act in accordance with them. In order to properly manage your energy, you must act not only in accordance with the momentary mood or the requirement of the present moment, but also remember the deep truths. For example, when bad mood or fatigue not to take it out on colleagues or relatives.
2.2. Be honest with yourself
Let's say you've identified your values, but how do you know if you're living by them? It is human nature to be deceived when it comes to himself. But until we honestly face ourselves and our negative and positive sides, we will not be able to move forward.
We lose power when we engage in self-deception, and this applies to a variety of energy aspects, including the physical. By refusing to accept the truth, we can block out pain, stiffness in our body, tight muscles, back pain, migraines or frequent colds. Sometimes denial of the truth can be healing, for example, when the body blocks the pain in a severe injury, but in this case it is not about that. The very suppression of the truth also consumes a lot of energy.
Try to take an honest look at your own behavior, admit your shortcomings, and then take responsibility for them and for your decisions. After all, what we hide or suppress in ourselves does not disappear, but continues to control our lives.
How do we hide from the truth? Suppressing feelings - falling into a stupor and denying the unpleasant. Recognizing the truth, but not emotionally living it, violating their own principles imposed on others. Finding traits inherent in others and condemning them in others. Explaining their shortcomings by the requirements of the life situation.
It must be admitted that in every negative pattern of behavior there is something that attracts us, delivering temporary comfort or pleasure. However, one must also understand that negative energy is destructive in the long run. So, outbursts of irritation can give temporary relief, but can destroy relationships with loved ones.
As in everything, in the search for truth, it is important to strike a balance, because, as the famous medieval physician Paracelsus said, "everything is poison, and everything is medicine."
Having brought down an avalanche of negative information on yourself, you can break down and deal too much a blow to your self-esteem. Therefore, the medicine of truth must be taken in doses. And remember that you need to be no less compassionate towards yourself than towards other people.
Open your eyes not only to your negative, but also to your positive traits. Sometimes we tend to suppress our positive qualities, hiding charity under harshness, sentimentality under rudeness, generosity under deliberate economy.
Self-study should be an ongoing practice, not a one-time event. This is the only way to gain inner freedom and maintain your energy at a sufficiently high level. Here again, comparison with muscles cannot be avoided. You can’t take too long a break in their training, but you need to give them a rest. If you constantly engage in self-digging, this will also not lead to good.
2.3. Positive rituals -
energy management tools
Returning to the defining role of habits in our lives, we cannot ignore the importance of rituals as tools for energy management.
Having made a ritual some action that replenishes the reserves of our energy capabilities, we have the opportunity to make less effort to perform it. After all, we do not experience difficulties when brushing our teeth twice a day, without hesitation we turn on the kettle in the morning, we do not think while making the bed. With the right rituals, we do not have to choose “do / not do”, the developed behavior scheme makes life easier, bringing good habits to automatism.
Rituals allow us to reinforce good habits, make transformations in our lives, set new priorities and train the muscles of all types of energies. Many great athletes and other outstanding people have reached the top in their field through the right rituals.
Base new rituals on your core values. Define your own rituals. Unpleasant associations associated with rituals are present for many precisely because in childhood most of the rituals were imposed from the outside.
Rituals must certainly take into account the need to alternate the expenditure and restoration of energy. Come up with relaxation rituals during intense work - deep breathing, a walk, talking with friends, a glass of water.
It is necessary to leave the comfort zone and instill rituals gradually so as not to break too quickly. Do not take on too many obligations at once, promising to completely change your life from the new year or from Monday. Try to focus on one important change in a certain time period.
Summary
Main human resource- energy. There are four main types of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. To live at full capacity, it is necessary to find a balance between the rhythmic expenditure and restoration of energy, intensively spending it and renewing it no less fully.
Underexpenditure of energy is harmful to energy resources no less than excessive overexpenditure, because in this case our energy "muscles" atrophy. One of effective ways exercising our energy "muscles" is stressful, which should be followed by energy recovery (rest).
Physical energy is the basis for all other types of energy. Conditions for maintaining decent reserves of physical energy: a balanced diet with a predominance of foods with a low glycemic index, proper breathing, 7-8 hours of sleep, sufficient fluid intake, interval exercise, strength training.
Emotional energy is restored when we do something that brings us pleasure and satisfaction: walking, talking with friends, going to the theater, music, drawing. The muscles of positive emotional energy are self-confidence, self-discipline, empathy, and communication skills. It is especially important for a leader to keep high level emotional energy even under stress.
Mental Energy Allows Us to Make Decisions, and for it the alternation of intensive work and good rest is especially necessary. At any age, strive for new knowledge and skills, this develops the brain, forming new neural connections and allowing you to maintain clarity of mind.
Spiritual Energy Determines Where We Invest All Our Energy, and is conditioned by our unselfish goals and values. The “muscle” of this energy is our character, which sometimes needs to be stressed and tested.
The goal is the most powerful energy generator, but only if it is positive, created by the person himself (and not given from outside), and if it is not absolutely selfish. You need to be able to set goals, and not just move through life on autopilot.
It is important not only to determine for yourself the right values that help accumulate positive energy, but also to live in accordance with these values. Be honest with yourself, recognize your negative and positive sides, taking responsibility for your actions. Self-deception is a sure way to lose positive energy.
Rituals based on deep values are the best tools for energy management. They allow you to consolidate good habits, set new priorities, change your lifestyle and train the “muscles” of our energies.
