• The Power of Full Engagement: The Four Energy Management Principles That Drive Performance

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE POWER OF FULL ENGAGEMENT

• Energy, not time, is our most precious resource. Skilfully managing energy allows us to unlock full engagement.
• We have four related but separate sources of energy or capacity:
  • Physical. Our quantity of energy (high or low).
  • Emotional. Our quality of energy (positive or negative).
  • Mental. Our focus of energy (broad or narrow, internal or external).
  • Spiritual. Our force of energy (self or others, internal or external, and positive or negative).
• High performance involves balancing stress and recovery.
  • We tend to lead linear lives, when we should be leading rhythmic ones. Oscillation is natural — our bodies follow natural rhythms.
  • To grow stronger, we need to stress our physical muscles and then allow them to recover. The same is true for our emotional, mental and spiritual muscles.
  • Too much stress without recovery leads to breakdown. Too much recovery without stress leads to atrophy.
  • Most of us are overtrained mentally and emotionally but undertrained physically and spiritually.
• How to unlock full engagement:
  • Define purpose. Change is driven by the top down. A spiritual source of purpose gives us direction and helps us withstand the storms of everyday life.
  • Face the truth. We need to face up to the gap between how we live now and how we want to live, letting go of any self-deception.
  • Take action. Positive energy rituals conserve our limited willpower and energy, and act as anchors that help us live by our values.

DETAILED SUMMARY OF THE POWER OF FULL ENGAGEMENT

The authors’ coaching experience

Loehr and Schwartz’s organisation spent over 30 years coaching world-class athletes. Because their techniques focused on managing energy instead of technical skills, they could work with athletes of all different sports.

Over time, their organisation branched out to other domains. They began working with FBI hostage rescue teams, US marshals, critical care workers in hospitals, and people in business. In many ways, the authors think people face higher demands in their work environments than world class athletes:

• Athletes train 90% of the time to perform 10% of the time. Most other people have to perform almost constantly.
• Athletes enjoy an off-season of 4-5 months per year. The ordinary worker only gets a few weeks off per year (and probably can’t fully disconnect).
• Professional athletes’ careers span 5-7 years and are often set for life after that. Most of us work for 40-50 years without any significant breaks.

Part 1: The Theory

Energy, not time, is our most precious resource

Energy is the fundamental “currency” of high performance. Everything we do requires energy.