CATALYST NEWS

Eva Dahm, CPCC, MA

September, 2005

Dedicated to your growth and exploration.

SECRET TO HIGH PERFORMANCE

One of the most interesting of my new discoveries is about how to achieve a consistent high level of performance in work. The book "The Power of Full Engagement" maintains that in today's world we do not need to manage time better to be more productive, but we need to manage our energy better.

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz have worked with hundreds of clients from top athletes to executives and from musicians to physicians. In all cases, looking for ways to renew energy is the key to their success.

I've written before about how it seems to be a badge of honor to be "so busy I can't think straight." We all have countless messages that tug on our attention. Via our cell phones we have taken our conversations with friends, family and co-workers into our cars, restaurants, even our restrooms. We schedule ourselves on electronic hand-held devices so we can automatically sync them to our computer and store many appointments for ourselves and family members. And we need electronic devices to store four or five phone numbers for each of our friends and family.

Many of my clients come to me so frazzled they can't begin to sort out options or find their path.

"Faced with relentless demands at work, we become short-tempered and easily distracted. We return home from long days at work feeling exhausted and often experience our families not as a source of joy and renewal, but as one more demand in an already overburdened life." Loehr and Schwartz say.

BALANCED APPROACHES

They believe energy management is the key to living differently and being more productive. Their clients experience more health and happiness at the same time.

"The more we take responsibility for the energy we bring to the world, the more empowered and productive we become."

With a balanced approach to four key areas of development, clients feel more authentic and aligned with our own purpose. Loehr and Schwartz highlight changes to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual arenas.

Their four areas are as follows. Physical revolves around nutrition, exercise and restoring energy. We will discuss this in more detail below. Emotional is whether you hold positive or negative attitudes and is impacted by any fear, anger or frustration. Mental arena is measured by ability to focus and hold realistic optimism. These three energy areas all feed upon one another. For example, low physical energy can create a lack of concentration and anxiety.

Spiritual energy creates our motivation to expend our energies in all the other areas. Spirituality is a lynchpin factor that relates not to religion per se but to a connection with deeply held values and with a purpose greater than simple self-interest. Anything that "ignites the human spirit" will drive our energy expenditure for higher performance.

How do you stack up in these areas? Tell yourself the truth, now. Are those extra pounds lowering your energy? Are you really a patient person? Are you as creative and mentally prepared as you want? Are you living from your values?

"Less than 30 percent of Americans are fully engaged at work according to data collected by the Gallup Organization in early 2001." You may have heard a recent news story discussing a survey of how workers waste their time in chats with co-workers, computer games or calls to friends. How engaged are you at work? This question is at both the level of how you focus on the actual job and at the level of how important the work is to your heart.

Fully engaged according to Loehr and Schwartz is invigorated, confident, challenged, joyful and connected. The contrast is depressed, exhausted, burned out, hopeless, and defeated. Where do you fall on the continuum?

PHYSCIAL ENERGY RENEWAL

One of the key principles of their work is that we need to hold the concept of work as running sprints rather than a marathon. When we accept this metaphor we rest often to renew and then go back to the work with vigor and high mental functioning. We work better in spurts rather than hours on end. When we relax and renew at regular intervals, we are able to sustain our high output.

"We rarely consider how much energy we are spending because we take it for granted that the energy available to us is limitless. In fact, increased demand progressively depletes our energy reserves-especially in the absence of any effort to reverse the progressive loss of capacity that occurs with age. When we live highly linear lives-spending far more energy than we recover or recovering more than we spend-the eventual consequence is that we break down, burn out, atrophy, lose our passion, get sick and even die prematurely. Sadly the need for recovery is often viewed as evidence of weakness rather than as an integral aspect of sustained performance."

Physical renewal is so simple it may sound like your mother here: Eat small meals 5-6 times daily (especially a good breakfast), drink water every hour, pay attention to deep breathing, take a mental break every 90-120 minutes, get moderate exercise 3-5 days a week (interval training), sleep 7-8 hours nightly and above all tie your life plan to your values and purpose.

Regular snacks need only be 140 calories or half an energy bar. Eating less as you go through the day is best, too, so your large meal is not at 8 or 9 PM. Obviously, water is important and they recommend the 64 ounces you've heard before.

Oxygen actually cleanses the body as in circulates in your blood. The oxygen rushes to your organs (especially your brain) and the toxins return to be exhaled. It is crucial to do some deep breathing occasionally and remind yourself to breathe from the stomach and not the top third of your lungs.

Regular breaks are best when they are a totally different activity-walk outside or listen to inspiring music. The authors discussed how Ivan Lendl was able to use his routine before each tennis serve as a renewal moment. He had a ritual of certain steps that told his body to relax, let go and coil for the next power serve.

A client of mine has found that simply shutting his door and being alone for 5-10 minutes provides a sense of renewed enthusiasm. And his staff says he is more relaxed when he does this regularly.

Exercise can assist you to release anger and frustration as well as create more oxygen in your body. Interval training uses spurts of heavy activity followed by recovery. The authors mention sprinting, weight lifting, climbing stairs, and bicycling. So the idea is to raise and then lower the heart rate. Much like they suggest work is a sprint, best training is sprinting.

The key recovery time is sleep time. I've worked with numerous clients who have had to create a healthy before bed ritual in order to sleep better. They set up a series of routines-journaling, taking a hot bath, turning off the television, quiet time. These actions signal the body to slow down and prepare to sleep.

Stuart Wilde suggests we review our day backwards with a special focus on the emotional times. This will clear our minds so that our dreams do not need to focus on re-working the day's events. Then we can dream and explore other realms to renew ourselves.

Another client is creating these rituals for her family-food preparation, meal time, nighttime routines and a bed time story. This gives her family stability and control and gives her some evening time alone or with her husband.

OTHER LIFE AREAS

The authors discuss the other focal areas: mental, emotional, and spiritual. "The primary markers of physical are strength, endurance, flexibility, and resilience. These are precisely the same markers of capacity emotionally, mentally and spiritually. In short, to be fully engaged requires strength, endurance, flexibility, and resilience in all dimensions."

If you are interested in learning more, pick up the book or contact me for coaching in one or several areas mentioned.

The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, 2003.

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