Zombie or Superhero: It’s a Matter of How You Manage Your Energy

There’s been a lot written on Energy Management being the superiour paradigm to Time Management and yet not many Business Owners seem to be aware of it, much less practice it. I’m not sure why this is but think this could be an appropriate place for the adage of communicate, communicate and then communicate some more. I think it’s important enough to dredge up yet once again because I simply meet too many Business Owners complaining of exhaustion; of having reaching their limits and having nothing left to give.

 In Dr. Jim Loehr’s book, “The Power of Story” (I think a better title would be something like, “It’s Your Story and the impact of sticking to it”), he spends a significant portion of the book on Energy Management. As a Performance Psychologist who’s worked with many of the world’s top athletes and Business Executives, he has a long and very credible track record of optimizing performance.  He does this by helping his clients find the purpose they’d risk their lives for and applying the resulting motivation to their careers. It has to be “true” which is a lot harder to attain than it sounds as demonstrated by the cliché “It’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” We typically only say that when we know something is wrong with it. He correctly asserts that a lot of our “stories” are flawed and not true to/consistent with our values.  And, of course, no one attains greatness without action and lots of it, but you’ll never get to that point without first discovering your “true” purpose.

Jim Loehr paraphrases this as Purpose, Truth & Action and based on my own experience, he couldn’t be more on the money. And, of course, there’s a lot more to the “story” but you’ll have to read the book if you’re interested in learning more. I believe it’s worth the investment of “time”.

One of the things that Jim Loehr says about energy management that I found particularly apt is “You cannot expend more energy than you create.” Still I didn’t think there was anything I personally could improve on. However, I reluctantly tried his suggestion of eating within an hour of waking, and to my surprise, my energy noticeably increased. (My old habit was to have something to eat about 3 hours after waking.)  None of us like to change our habits and rituals. We are creatures of habit but if you know you’re running out of gas before you run out of day, then you might want to think about this. We have all been conditioned that what we’re giving isn’t enough; that we need to give more but, in trying to do so, most of us deplete our energy reserves day in, day out; doing the equivalent of trying to run a marathon all day long. No wonder so many of us end up like the walking dead; shuffling along with no more purpose than to relentlessly, inappropriately consume and contaminate the rest of the living. In the real world, the equivalent to the Zombie “infection” transfer mechanism is the pressure to conform to working long hours with inadequate nutrition and rest. It may be peer pressure or pressure from management but there’s no denying that the infection is rampant.  And there’s no denying that a business full of Zombies isn’t likely to be particularly productive or profitable.

Wouldn’t it be better to embody the Superhero archetype? We all know them: the people who appear to have endless and infectious energy, the super achievers. They all have super purpose too: to save the world from evil, super villains and to endlessly and tirelessly improve the human condition.  Do you think Superhero’s don’t get enough sleep? Don’t supply their bodies with the fuel that they need? The Superhero Archetype always has a super strength source whether it comes from an alien planet (Superman) or wealth and know how (Batman, Ironman), but most of the time, from some sort of contamination. It doesn’t matter if they accidently stumbled upon “the secret sauce”; the point is that they all have. They’re the equivalent of Super Performers whether they be Top Athletes, Einsteins, Corporate legends or A list Actors. Do you think top athletes don’t get enough sleep? Don’t train adequately (but are careful not to over-train and become a zombie)? Don’t carefully control their nutrition and diet? Of course they do.

Loehr also writes about the Energy Pyramid which is one of the other things that provides a helpful framework. “If you lack physical fuel, there will be a ripple effect on every story you tell and everything you do or attempt to do.” If we’re tired and/or hungry, we just don’t have the resources we would otherwise. We’re more likely to be short-tempered and it’s unlikely we’ll be able to produce anything of value.

The following is an abbreviated list of Jim Loehr Energy Management recommendations.

           Nutrition

• Eat within an hour of waking. 
• Eat a meal rich in carbohydrates within 2 hours before exercising and after exercising.
• Eat every 2 to 4 hours except when sleeping.
• Eat only what you need for the next 2 to 3 hours of your day. Practice eating less food to assess how long the meal lasts.

          Exercise (you must exert yourself)

• The more we move the better we feel. Move at regular intervals. Lack of movement = lack of energy.
• When it comes to exercise - Comfort: bad. Pain: bad. Discomfort: perfect e.g., if running you should still be able to carry on a conversation.
• Regular exercise (at least 3 times/week) for 30 minutes with no more than 2 days between.

          Recovery and Sleep

• About 7 ½ to 8 hours of deep sleep/night. (Fitter people require less sleep.)
• A 30 to 60 minute nap each mid-afternoon. (I can’t see this as being accepted in our culture in my lifetime.)
• Breaks (periods of disengagement 5 to 15 minutes) are vitally important ~ every 90 minutes.

First, you have to understand what makes a difference, but after that it’s a choice. What do you want to be a Zombie or Superhero?