Summary: “We’re capable of so much more than we realize.” Opening line in forward of “Be Excellent at Anything” Do you ever feel like the proverbial hamster on the wheel? You are busy - busy “doing” - but you’re not getting anywhere! Do you ever stop to consider: What it is you really want? How you spend and renew your energy? What you need to do to work at full capacity? To maximize the height of a soufflé we know we must follow the recipe carefully. What if there was a recipe for maximizing your ability to “rise”? Tony Schwartz has that recipe. He describes, in his New York Times Bestseller “Be Excellent at Anything”, how each of us can achieve sustainable excellence at anything! Golden Egg Humans don't come with a power cord “The way we’re working isn’t working for us, for our employers, or for our families. It’s not the number of hours we work that determines how much value we create. Rather it’s the quantity and quality of energy we bring to whatever hours we work.” Be Excellent at Anything, Page xii I charge my iphone over night and it’s good to go for a full day. But what about you? How do you fuel your energy source? What is your energy source? Can you operate without refueling your energy? And what happens to your work and life if you don’t? Operating at our best is not just about intrinsic talent and working hard. A key element is how well we meet our four energy needs: physical (sustainability), emotional (security), mental (self-expression), and spiritual (significance). The problem is, most people think we work like a machine; plug us in and we go! However, by moving rhythmically between activity and renewal in each of the four energy needs, we can build our capacity to generate more and more value over time. GEM # 1 Plug in. Recharge. We all know them. The people that "punch in" before the sun is up and punch out like zombies when the sun has set. Maybe you are one of them; because, like most of us, you think the best way to get things done is to “keep your nose to the grindstone”. Start early and finish late. Our computers can do it because we offer them a never-ending source of energy by plugging them in. This allows them to run multiple programs simultaneously at consistently high speeds for long periods of time. Unfortunately, we don’t have such a simple power supply. Most people leave themselves “unplugged” from an energy source for periods of time that are far too long. And our output suffers. For some unknown reason we think we can run on empty. We haven’t taught ourselves how to recharge and maximize our energy. The better we are at pulsing between expenditure and intermittent renewal of energy the more productive we will be! How often should we plug in? Schwartz tells us the best way to produce maximum output is to consciously change gears, refresh and recharge every 90 minutes. Want to produce “high def” output instead of standard? Try this: Wake up after 7-9 hours of sleep and spend 90 minutes working. Then take a break and have breakfast. Work for another 90 minutes then go for a run. Work for 90 minutes then take your lunch break. Get the picture? Can’t do it you say? What about… taking your lunch away from your desk? Or, making a habit of eating something healthy every 2 or 3 hours? Or as a baby step,.. just stepping away from the task at hand every 90 minutes to breathe deeply? Now that you know it will help you produce at a higher level you can give yourself the permission to simply step away. Refresh, refuel and recharge….what a concept! GEM # 2 Fatter, Dumber, and More Dangerous “No single behaviour, we’ve come to believe, more fundamentally influences our effectiveness in waking life than sleep.” Be Excellent at Anything, Page 57 What is the first ingredient of Schwartz’s recipe? Where does this energy renewal begin? Physical renewal.
