Just about everyone is in a hurry these days, juggling work, 
family and play like so many balls in the air. We pride 
ourselves on our ability to multitask. We use email, cell 
phones, and other devices to keep in touch so that we don't 
miss anything. However, the more time-saving devices at our 
disposition, the more we cram in extra tasks. Instead of saving 
time, we are creating more possibilities. We are wired up but 
melting down.

Faced with relentless demands at work, we return home exhausted, 
only to face children and spouses with less than a cheerful 
disposition. Instead of experiencing our families as a source 
of joy and renewal, they are one more demand in an overburdened 
life. We say we need more time, but time isn't really the key 
issue in the first place.


Energy is the Key

The issue isn't time-or time management. It's energy. And 
this requires us to rethink much of what we've believed about 
organizing our lives.  Managing time efficiently is no guarantee 
that we'll bring sufficient energy to whatever it is we're doing.
We need to learn two new rules:

1. Energy is the fundamental currency of high performance.

2. Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the 
   skillful management of energy.


According to Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, in their recent book, 
The Power of Full Engagement (Free Press, 2003), the skillful 
management of energy-individually and organizationally-makes 
full engagement possible. To be fully engaged in our lives we 
must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally 
focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our 
immediate self-interest. This is a phenomenal insight that 
most of us ignore. 


The Quality of our Moments

When you think about it, the ultimate measure of our lives is 
not how much time we spend on the planet, neither how much we 
get done, but rather in the quality of our moments. We can't 
have memorable moments without investing energy.

Most approaches to the problems of time and stress management 
deal with it from the neck up, addressing cognitive capacity and 
skills. Now a growing body of research points to managing our 
emotions and connecting with our spiritual sense of true values 
and higher purpose as the keys to sustaining optimal performance. 


To Be Continued...

One of the ways to improve your energy capacity is to explore 
these issues with your coach: the ways in which you expend 
energy and how you renew it. The four domains of physical, 
emotional mental and spiritual all need to be explored. In 
some cases, you may need to stretch yourself to expand your 
capacities. In others, you may need to build in renewal and 
recovery rituals. 

These rituals may include writing in a journal, meditation, a 
regular workout routine, praying, reading something inspirational
or looking daily at your vision statement of what you're trying 
to achieve in your life. They help connect you to your purpose, 
and complement the changes you make to help improve physical 
energy. Together, they can help you to manage your energy, 
achieve high performance, and create more quality moments in 
your work and life.



The is the first article in a four article series on "Becoming 
Fully Engaged." A four article series to provoke thinking and 
action to living life fully:

 Part 1: Managing Energy, Not Time
 Part 2: Defining Purpose: What's it Really All About, Anyway?
 Part 3: Facing the Truth: Let's Get Real Here
 Part 4: The Power of Positive Rituals 


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