Healthy High Achiever Blog

When the great Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz wrote the book, The Power of Full Engagement, they made a powerful point that I’m not sure enough people got, even though it was on the cover of their book - "Managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance and personal renewal".

These guys were a major inspiration for me, and influenced my thinking differently about health, lifestyle and the mindset of high achieving people. But the one thing I’m reminded of over and over again, when I read that quote… is this. Many people understand this concept. But do they know how to apply it in their life? Do they know the implications, the realities, and what it really takes to manage energy?

Once you start to explore these questions you immediately start seeing that your goals and how you plan to achieve those goals will be become the key determinants in how you look, feel and perform, and vice versa.

Think about it, we wake up and achieve objectives and goals every day, from the moment we open our eyes. It’s how we achieve them and whether we compromise our health in the process, that determines how well we’ll perform while we do it.

It’s not as easy as the traditional model of living one way (overwhelmed, exhausted and overweight) and then trying to solve the problems that arise with another (dieting and exercising). In a strange way, the problematic way is easier to grasp.

As Loehr and Schwartz put it, the Power of Full Engagement is about managing your energy more skillfully both on an off the job. I highly recommend you read this book. One thing I can tell you now is that the Power of Full Engagement does not mean "over engagement" to the point of driving yourself into the ground.

What’s driving you? You’ll answer this question when you have a Performance Lifestyle. The answers will prevent you from living over engaged and ultimately change you life and body, forever.

To understand the difference between full engagement and over-engagement, you have to experience a Performance Lifestyle. It’s much more dynamic than the current way people live, yet the quality of life is better. By the name of it, you might think it means you’re always performing, but the reality is, quite the opposite.

Fully engaged assumes you’re managing your energy, and have a lifestyle that’s promoting success. Over-engaged is the direct opposite, as your lifestyle is compromised in the process, therefore you drive yourself into the ground. This is called the downward trend.

Learn how to break out of it, read the Performance Lifestyle Manifesto.