Archive for the ‘Personal Energy Management’ Category
A reality check on recovery…
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on June 24, 2008 – 4:01 pmAs you know, Performance Lifestyle was born in the Athletic community, and not surprisingly. Athletes unlike crazed parents, business people and students have a more accurate understanding of what it means to perform well. It is about productivity and winning, but first and foremost it’s about making sure you can perform "well", and that’s a matter of lifestyle.
Well, as I was reading a conference summary for cutting edge sports nutrition information, from the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine and the results from over 5,000 exercise scientists, sports dietitians, physicians and coaches who gathered in Indianapolis in May to share their latest research; I always look for ideas that will help Healthy High Achievers who are not sports athletes perform, look and feel better.
There was one insight in particular that really stood out… it was about the elite athletes’ ability to recover (soccer players in this case).
Here is one of the sports nutrition highlights.
How long do elite soccer players need to recover from a game? In one study, they needed five days for sprinting ability to return to pre-game level. That’s four days longer than most athletes allow…
Think about this for a second. These are elite athletes we’re talking about here and they need 4 days to recover?
Now take the average business person who is working 10 -12 hours per day or more who is trying to train intensely or consistently every day and consider why they my run into obstacles and stall periodically.
In other words, most people set their expectations too high, don’t have the lifestyle to support their training success and don’t factor in everything else going on in their life that is drawing down on the same energy and time, need to recover. This needless to say, affects the results you experience.
Healthy High Achievers know how to gauge their activity levels… it’s all part of the science of Personal Energy Management.
Here are some of the other findings from the conference as written by Nancy Clarke.
John Allen Mollenhauer is the Founder of Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achieve your goals in life, business and sport. As a former worn down workaholic turned healthy, high achiever John Allen (aka “JAM”) will teach you how to Live Like a Pro, optimizing your lifestyle the way athletes do. He is the creator of the Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle to Look, Feel and Perform Better!
Tags: Athletes, Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management, Recovery, Sports Nutrition
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The Definition of Power
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on June 16, 2008 – 12:33 pmI was on the phone today, as I am on most Monday’s at 12:00 Noon with Michael Port of The Think Big Revolution. I love this guy (he is also a friend) so much, that I take one of my 168 hours each week for his televent. My hours come at a premium… the content is that good.
Today, he emphasized a definition of the keyword Power that I share - as you know I promote a concept called Fit for Power, so I am not foreign to this term.
Power - is the capacity to do what you want
For years I searched for the most powerful definitions of this term and ultimately I came back to this idea of "capacity". It’s a big enough and an encompassing enough of an idea to reflect the net result of how we are thinking and living.
How important is it that you have the ability to do and act? Almost a ridiculous question isn’t it?
Everything we do and if we’re going to it "well" in the process of achieving our goals, requires that we have power, so are you thinking and living powerfully?
The question is: Are you thinking (conceptualizing, giving meaning, responding, associating, etc) and living (recovering, eating, training, moving, acting etc) powerfully?
Or, are you thinking and living in a way that is depleting your energy?
Ponder this…
John Allen Mollenhauer is the Founder of Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achieve your goals in life, business and sport. As a former worn down workaholic turned healthy, high achiever John Allen (aka “JAM”) will teach you how to Live Like a Pro, optimizing your lifestyle the way athletes do. He is the creator of the Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle to Look, Feel and Perform Better!
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Tags: energy, fit, Power
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5 of the Best Foods to Increase Your Energy
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on May 8, 2008 – 7:11 pmNext time your energy drops skip the caffeine and Power Up!
No you don’t have to "give up" the caffeine all together; you’ll "eliminate" it when you no longer have a need for it (maybe never if you are a coffee lover). But know this, caffeine is not increasing your energy, it is making you more exhausted.
There is only one way to actually increase your energy and that is… to RECUPERATE IT! Almost everything else is a stimulant, there are exceptions.
Did you know that all foods are stimulating? Yes that’s right ALL FOODS are stimulating, not just caffeine and chocolate. Even watermelon is stimulating, some foods are more so than others. It’s usually the "foodstuffs" that are man made or processed to provide extra kick that set you up for a crash, poor health and lowered performance.
You are better off grabbing fruit, nuts, or beans, “watermelon” or some other natural food concoction to stimulate yourself when you are tired than going for a Milky Way bar. Actually you can find Nutrient Rich Chocolate bars today that are chocolaty and ten times better for you at the same time. The difference is negligible for you chocolate lovers.
The following foods will stimulate your energy more effectively because they are Nutrient Rich, they contain vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that combat inflammation, support your immune system, and help you recover faster from exercise. In other words, they promote your health and performance and give you an edge.
But know this… no food, not even Nutrient Rich food will give you the energy you are missing when you’re living out of balance and burning out. As a business owner, you may have a sense for what I’m talking about.
Here are five of the best foods to eat and refuel with for energy.
Snack on fruits of any kind: They’re rich in many vitamins, including vitamin C, a powerful nutrient that can have an antioxidant effect 20 minutes after you eat it. If you prefer juice, choose one with pulp for more fiber. Actually, juicing fruit and eating it without the fiber is better than soda, but it’s not whole food and the sugar hit, albeit natural and healthier than refined sugar, will have a stimulant effect like drinking coffee. Both will promote weight gain, depending on the circumstances of your overall diet.
2. Agave Nectar
Replace the white sugar in your tea with agave nectar, it’s so sweet and it’s not super stimulating. It has a low glycemic level and is a delicious and safe alternative to table sugar. Agave syrup is fructose in its natural form. This nectar does not contain processing chemicals.
3. Beans
Eat a cup of beans such as kidney (best), chick peas (garbanzo beans) black beans (cooked any style, just don’t add salt, or wash it off from the canned version) for a calorie appropriate source of nutrients and food energy; great with avocado and nuts and greens.
4. Trail (Fruit & Nut) Mix (unroasted, unsalted, no preservatives) or as close as possible.
Make a trail mix out of your favorite nuts and seeds (like walnuts, pistachios, cashews, almonds, and pumpkin and sesame seeds, Goji berries, raisins, and a little bit of dark chocolate cocal). Include as much or as little of each ingredient as you like (they’re all healthy) Eat just one handful of the mix- you’ll get quick a stimulating response as these concentrated sources of calories, will keep you metabolism working. They are can be calorie rich, but they are Nutrient Rich too.
5. Berry Juices
Mix 4 -6oz. of dark berry juice-like grape, pomegranate, cherry, blueberry, açai, or black currant-with water. If you are not very active at the time and you don’t need a great deal of simple carbohydrate, make sure you dilute the juice to help keep sugar levels down. Look for a brand with low sugar content – Odwalla, Naked other.
There are more Nutrient Rich foods than you will ever get to in your life time to fuel your body with sustainable energy. But, increasing energy is more a function of recuperation than eating, unless your body has not been fueled in a while, so keep this in mind. The energy depletion most people are suffering from is not a lack of calories, its low vital energy. Learn the difference and you’ll be well on your way to managing your energy like a pro!
John Allen Mollenhauer is the Founder of Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achiever your goals, for Achievers.
A former worn down workaholic turned Healthy High Achiever, John Allen or ”JAM” will help you Manage Your Energy Like a Proä to look feel and perform better. Achieve your goals in life, business and sport with your health and well being in tact. www.PerformanceLifestyleSolutions.com
Posted in Nutrient Rich, Personal Energy Management | No Comments »
Did my last post miss the mark?
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on February 8, 2008 – 1:56 pm"Your email re Heath Ledger and Energy Management, in my opinion, is missing the “mark”. Heath had many issues that were way beyond Energy Management. Although your observation is acknowledged as part of the issue. He had deep rooted psychological issues and, in my opinion, needed serious therapy."
Best regard,
Randy
JAM response -
I don’t attest to knowing Heath Ledgers situation first hand, so its important to say that I am sharing observations regarding Heath and his cause of death that seem obvious.
I agree with Randy on this one. It depends on how you look at it. Randy is looking at the deeper causes of poor energy management which are surely psychological.
Point noted Randy…
He likely had psychological issues (many of us do;-)). My point was not one of exclusivity, or ultimate cause, but overwhelm and exhaustion is clearly a cause/effect that prompted his overdose. I was referring to the article and his comments about his current condition.
The true basis of a Performance Lifestyle is emotional fitness and psychological strength without which, managing your energy like a pro can be very difficult.
I have learned from much study and personal first hand experience that when you combine psychological issues that negatively affect how you perceive and live in the world, with overwhelm and exhaustion… you have a disastrous combination.
If you combine that downward trending duet with a cloudy or unclear vision of the future, it’s very hard to move forward (achieve your goals) with your health and wellbeing in tact.
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When you get down to it, Heath Ledger died because of Overwhelm and Exhaustion
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on February 6, 2008 – 7:24 pmHealth Ledger…
"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times.
"I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he had taken two Ambien pills, which only gave him an hour of sleep.
He said this in a November interview that his most recent completed roles in the Batman movie "The Dark Night" and Bob Dylan biopic "I’m Not There" had taken a toll, saying he couldn’t sleep.
JAM
This is a crying shame. I really liked that guy, his acting and his place in our world. "The Patriot" was one of my favorite movies… and he seemed like a quality man.
It’s a major loss.
What can we learn from this besides the fact that the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for Heath and that Heath’s accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage?
It is this…
Sleep, or more broadly and accurately said, personal energy management is not an option, it’s the very essence and the most fundamental lifestyle / skill you can ever learn. Overwhelm leads to exhaustion and that can lead to more than overweight and health complications, it can mean death.
Posted in Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management | 1 Comment »
The Attention Age Doctrine and Why It’s Important To You.
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on November 29, 2007 – 4:38 pmYesterday, I got a few understandable email responses to a broadcast I sent, wondering why I would be recommending a business / marketing document to Performance Lifestyle subscribers?
It was about The Attention Age Doctrine 2 written by a business mentor of mine named Rich Schefren. I’m recommending you read this document for reasons that are multi-fold.
First, most of us are doing business every day in ways that are wearing us down. I learned this first hand by spreading my attention and my energy way to far, at various times in my career, and nearly driving my self right into the ground.
It took me a long time to understand that the way we achieve our goals in life and business has EVERYTHING to do with how we look, feel and perform. Burnout, weight gain, overwhelm, and living deconditioned… are not inevitable states of getting older, or of life itself, they are consequences of our life(and work) style.
Where and how you focus your attention is a big part of your lifestyle.
Performance Lifestyle and the training we do around this idea is all about how you manage your energy, including but not limited to the quality of the food you eat and your activity levels in the process of achieving your goals. We teach you how to live athletically so you can thrive in the face of relentless demand on your time, space and energy.
Part of this equation is where and how you spend your energy.
Rich is talking about our attention, essentially where we spend our energy each day in our business. If your business is not set up right, it’s going to take it’s toll on YOU. From the business perspective I have learned a great deal from Rich about personal energy management (PEM) and have factored it into the Performance Lifestyle model.
His business message is relevant to Performance Lifestyle. So much so, I’m actually kicking off the next Performance Lifestyle Training at Rich’s Strategic Profits Event in Disney World this February.
What he’s talking about in The Attention Age Doctrine 2, is where we spend our attention (energy) and the affect that Web 2.0 is going to have on this, in our business and personal life.
For example, just this past couple months, I launched a MySpace and a Facebook page… the two leading social networking sites
http://www.myspace.com/myperformancelifestyle
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=633911411
I wanted to get to know social networking in a big way, especially with the new release of www.MyTrainer.com in the coming month - a social network around free workout video’s provided by the worlds best fitness trainers and lifestyle experts.
…within weeks, I realized I had to come up with a lifestyle strategy around social networking because I quickly realized this was sapping my energy. It was like having a part time job on top of my career! I had to figure out how I was going to direct my attention. Fascinating little journey because I, like you, only have so much energy.
Now, I know in the Attention Age Doctrine, Rich Schefren is talking about where you are putting your attention from a marketing perspective, but I’m suggesting you also look at it from the standpoint of how you are managing your energy.
Remember, attention requires energy. Think laterally for 90 minutes and you’ll consider this document brilliant. There are some real gems in there.
The second reason why I feel this document is worth 90 minutes of your time, is this. I serve achievers, people who are up to big things in their life and business, who are overspending their energy and living on the downward trend of overwhelm, exhaustion and overweight which go hand in hand.
In the Age of Achievement (as I refer to it) where and how you spend your attention (energy) every day in the process of achieving your goals is mission critical. Where and how you are you spending it? Get a handle on this, learn how to do it effectively personally and professionally and it will do wonders for your health, success and quality of life.
No conversation about looking, feeling and performing better is going to do you the good your seeking if the conversation isn’t also about how you achieve your goals with your health and well being in tact. It’s not "about" losing weight or eating better, or exercising. You do these things so that you can achieve your goals…
If you felt my email was outside of my bounds, then I would suggest that you expand your scope. I never send an email that is not relevant to your health, personal performance and success.
I look forward to talking soon, and I hope you are doing great! I really value you as a subscriber a client and a friend.
Enjoy reading The Attention Age Doctrine.
Posted in Healthy High Achiever, Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management | 1 Comment »
You Are an Athlete
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on September 24, 2007 – 7:55 pmWhat? You say? I"m not an athlete! I’m a business owner, a service professional, a parent, a student…
Yes, and you are an athlete!
If you are facing demands on your time and energy, and achieving any goals, you are an athlete.
If you’re reading this and you’re keeping pace in todays day and age, you are an athlete and you might want to start thinking this way. That is, if you don’t want to join the rest of the population who is driving themselves into the ground and focusing on weight loss.
In the upcoming posts we’re going to focus on this as we get ready for the next trainining.
For starters, here’s a conversation on this very subject. A recent internview I did with Kevin Gianni of Live Awesome…
Posted in Athletics and the lifestyle, Interviews, Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management | 3 Comments »
Are you living to “be healthy” or Living Healthy “to Live” on purpose
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on September 13, 2007 – 9:23 amYou know I have to say that this mindset shift was the best things that every happened to me.
For some time, I was living to be healthy and it cost me a great deal of success. I was all wrapped up in food and fitness and missed the most important element of both health and success, which is managing your energy to look, feel and perform better, and achieve your real goals. It wasn’t until I made this distinction in my mind that I was able to revolutionize my lifestyle and really focus on success.
The distinction between living to be healthy (how I was thinking when I was exhausted and overweight) and living healthy "to live" on purpose is powerful. What is so powerful about the difference between these too ideas is that in both cases your value for healthy living is in place, but ironically, when you’re not focused on being healthy, and you decide to live healthy to live your purpose and achieve the bigger goals you have in life, you will live healthier than ever before and it will go way beyond food and fitness.
It’s a phenomenon, and it’s true. And I’m suggesting that it’s going to work for you too. It’s the reason why the entire Performance Lifestyle idea even exists so that you can achieve your goals powered by the healthiest, best performing, most successfully energized and productive body you can imagine.
"Just after I met you, I found my event. It’s an event “bigger than my waist size” and I started lifting with a new vision and intensity that I haven’t done for 20 years. I am eating to live instead of living to eat.
“Every great performer is always training for their next event.” Wow. That was powerful John. I wished there was a way to convey to you how grateful I am that I had that 1 minute opportunity to line up knee to knee with JAM. There are no strings attached to this expression John. I have just not stopped thinking about it since Toronto… and I thought is was time you knew the impact you had on my life… in less than one minute.
I feel I owe you. I really do. One day, I hope to return the gift of clarity.
Looking Forward," Joseph Stith Executive Director of Learning Innovation ENGAGE THOUGHTWARE LLC
Doesn’t it sound strange to be trying to achieve your goals in an overwhelmed and exhausted body, maybe overweight? Of course it does. Performance requires that you maintain yourself in top condition, just like athletes.
It takes just as much energy, endurance, and stamina to be a super mom, a parent, a business owner, heck a student these days as it does to be an athlete. We are all athletes.
Sports athletes just have a stronger purpose than most people do, they always have an event to prepare for and target, big goals that they are striving for and more. That’s why they live Performance Lifestyle’s, the healthiest and most successful lifestyles in the world and here’s the big irony -
They don’t wake up and "live healthy" at all! They just do what works, and I can tell you, mismanaging your energy, eating poorly, being inactive, living with a fuzzy purpose and unclear goals, not to mention making goals out of things that aren’t even real goals, that end up being distractions from your real purpose in life does not work.
Over the next two weeks I’ve got a series of events planned with some top experts in Performance Lifestyle, who are also helping to revolutionize the way we think and live today.
- Tonight September 13, I’m talking with Rob Poulos of Zero to Hero Fitness, a warrior for better lifestyle.
- Tuesday, September 18th I’m talking with Scott Colby of SC Fitness and My Ultimate Fitness Mindset
- And on September 19th, I’ll be talking with Dr Brad Swift, Author of Life on Purpose -Brad Swift, the author of Life On Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life
Performance lifestyle is not only about transforming your lifestyle for better results in your body, life and business; it is to live our lives on purpose. That’s why lifestyle training and coaching is so valuable, because it’s about your success.
Keep your calendars open for one night per week starting the end of September!
Posted in Achieve your goals, Change your life, Healthy Lifestyle, Lifestyle Transformation, Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management | No Comments »
“Healthy Lifestyle” or Healthiest, Best Performing Lifestyle?
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on September 7, 2007 – 8:58 amDid you know, if in your lifestyle today, you are simply sleeping a "little" longer, eating a "little" better and exercising a "little" more, you can still, and likely will, suffer from the overweight condition and low energy?
Its easy, given the high performance demands we all face.
I learned this first hand in the 1990’s when I was living a "relatively healthy" lifestyle that was probably more conscientious than 90% of the population (which is saying allot). My schedule was so intense, despite eating less of the bad foods, eating more of the good foods, and exercising a great deal. I still got fat, fatigued and overweight… and couldn’t perform at the level I wanted and needed to.
In retrospect, I was only scratching the surface when it came to unleashing the full potential of my lifestyle to promote my health, and success, in life and business.
This is true for a ot of people, I know, I train and coach at least 50 clients a month who make this very clear to me. My clients are all motivated, smart, driven people and who are living a great life in so many ways, but are suffering the same fate so many others are - overwhelm, exhaustion, for some fatigue and the overweight condition and the answers on the market, just aren’t solving the real problem.
It’s not weight, it’s energy!
Personal Energy Management and Performance is where your focus needs to be… Whether we’re talking energy, food or fitness, focus or success, the one common denominator all these aspects of our lives have in common is how we manage our energy…
In the upcoming Performance Lifestyle Training, you’re going to learn how to manage your energy like a pro to look, feel and perform better, and achieve your goals at any age(c).
The Pro Energy Strategies you’ll learn are the core of Performance Lifestyle Training, the worlds first and only fully integrated system to optimize your lifestyle for better health AND Success
When I started living a Performance Lifestyle, not just a healthier lifestyle, it was incredible. Focused on Performance, I couldn’t make better lifestyle choices fast enough to keep up with my drive for greater health and success. No longer suffering from low energy, because of my new personal energy management skills, I started to perform better than ever before and it showed in my levels of success and quality of life. Yeah I’ve had big hiccups but nonetheless today, my performance lifestyle is in full gear.
This is incredibly powerful and there is no end in sight to how well you can optimize your lifestyle - the greatest untapped source of power for personal and professional success.
Here’s what a recent client of the Performance Lifestyle Training said…
This training changed my mind - and redirected my focus - in such a substantial way, it’s hard to encapsulate my experience !
Foremost, to help me see how energy - its management and restoration - enables me to live my purpose and vision, WOW!
Before I began I was beyond exhausted. I had little energy for anything but an increasingly sedentary work and lifestyle.
Today I have more energy than I’ve had in years - and I get it doing things that are so simple, and so easy to integrate into daily living it blows my mind.
This training did not disappoint me. It blew my mind, and then it gave me back my life.
It’s been amongst the very best investments I’ve ever made. And life will never be the same again, nor will I.
In anticipation of great things, Lissa Bergen Boles
I’ll be releasing details on the next training shortly…
Posted in Healthy Lifestyle, Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management | 1 Comment »
Hmmm, energy or weight issue?
Written by John Allen Mollenhauer "JAM" on September 6, 2007 – 10:44 pmHave you ever considered the role your energy is playing in your weight, your health and success? When I ask that question most people say, they have low energy because they are overweight when it’s the other way around.
How they manage their energy in the process of achieving their goals, is causing them to drive themselves into the ground, and the more you downward trend energetically the more challenged your health and the harder your success.
Managing your energy is at the heart of changing your lifestyle, if you don’t know how, you will continue to be challenged. Here’s what a recent participant in the Performance Lifestyle Training has to say -
“When this Performance Lifestyle Course began, I understood very soon that energy-debt was my biggest issue - no doubt about the fact that "I was deep in debt". First, I learned what "manage your vital energy" was all about — my first lesson and it was a BIG ONE!! My body began to respond positively and it all FELT GOOD!! This was my first big breakthrough!!" This Age of Achievement non-stop, all-out, will drive you crazy if you let it ". The big secret is to learn how to prevent that.!! AH!! Welcome to the Performance Lifestyle Course!!” – Mary Davern
Get ready, there’s a Performance Lifestyle Training coming your way, end of September
Posted in Achieve your goals, Performance Lifestyle, Personal Energy Management | 1 Comment »
