Everything Counts: 52 Remarkable Ways to Inspire Excellence and Drive Results

Chapter 16. Energy Management Counts

"Peak performance, optimal health, and genuine happiness are grounded in the skillful art of energy management."

How do you get to the next level of performance and productivity? It all begins with how you manage energy!

In order to enjoy and maintain high levels of performance, you must learn how to systematically spend and renew energy. Managing energy—not time—is the X Factor behind peak performance, personal renewal, and overall well-being. Every action, no matter the size, either adds or robs fuel from your energy gas tank.

We are all reservoirs of energy. Everything we do—from interacting with colleagues and making important decisions to spending time with our family—requires energy. As obvious as this seems, we often fail to take into account the critical role of energy in our lives. Absent of the correct quantity, quality, focus, and forces of energy, we all become compromised in any activity we undertake.

It is disturbing to see the immense amount of human and corporate potential squandered due to the misuse of energy. Unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise, negativity, sarcasm, unfocused goals and strategies are all contributing factors to energy loss. On the other hand, the most productive members of society have the unique ability to both engage fully and disengage periodically. They understand that continuous engagement without proper renewal leads to progressively depleted energy levels, and it is this understanding that allows them ...