He said that he pays 10% of his time attention to identifying problems, 40% on solutions, 60% on actions and I thought to myself that this a very much a performance lifestyle approach.

But these %’s add up to 110? (maybe by design)

In a performance lifestyle, we have a hallmark and it is: we don’t make more out of things than they needs to be. Now this is easier than it looks, especially when you are going through tough experiences, if you are tired, not sustainable and really good at telling dramatic stories. Overtime though, when you recognize power in this formula, you get better and better at making lifestyle changes.

Now in line with that philosophy, what % of time do you think people spend mired in the problem? At the the very least, it’60% of the time or more! Which means; less time is spent on identifying solutions and making the lifestyle changes need to produce a better result. You are just mired in problems.

Here at Performance Lifestyle.com, we have spent an incredible amount of time and money to identify the most successful lifestyle skills and solutions that would enable someone to live more in line with this highly effective formula.

To be able to spend 10% of your time on identifying solutions, you have to not be mired in so many problems that you don’t have enough energy, time and space to focus on solutions and action.

By the way:

According to Pam Popper, though counter intuitive, the more significant a lifestyle change, the more pronounced the result, and the more likely someone is likely to stick to the changes. More moderate changes often don’t result in much health improvement, and people do not stick with them.

To get in line with this formula for time attention, you must make changes at the right levels or problems will persist.

With this formula, eventually you have to spend less and less time, identifying problems, because the 40% and 60% take over. This happens when you make changes at the right level to get the results and this is how you are perceived to be giving 110%!

So when you are identifying problem, it usually doesn’t take more than 10% of the time (especially when most problems are so well defined today). It could be more in many cases, depending on your situation, but eventually, it doesn’t take more than 10%. Besides that’s a significant amount of time.

It only get’s prolonged when we are in denial of the solution or just aren’t willing to make a significant enough change.

For example: which makes more sense, a nutrient rich diet or a nutrient poor diet? Well most people eat a nutrient poor diet regardless of all other factors, and that’s why they have problems eating! period! It may take them a long time to identify, the power of a nutrient rich diet, after they do, identifying dietary problems are solve quickly because they are starting the search from a sound and fundamental place.

That’s what we focus on here at PerformanceLifestyle.com, the lifestyle fundamentals and moving forward in a position of strength. That’s what our training is all about, in part, getting free of the confusion.

We want to help you get in line with only having to spend 10% of your time on identifying the problem (a significant amount), but 40% on the solutions and 60% on action because  a lifestyle is not a lifestyle until it’s grounded in experience.

That’s where most of our time should be spent.

Think about how much more effective you become in the world when you spend your time and energy effectively.

You're Juggling, But for Who, and Why?

Since finishing The Curse of the Capable (1st edition) about a year ago, and now talking about it with lost of people, I continue to understand what “the curse” is, and how it plays in our “crazy” lives today.

The Curse, is a mental state where talented people mask their vulnerabilities through their capabilities. We refer to the curse when people are trying very hard in their efforts to achieve and perform to win the respect and love of other people.  What happens when you try your very hardest and yet you still can’t attain the healthy, balanced life you long for? What happens when you don’t understand the reasons your life is not satisfying? You feel Cursed! You’re disappointed you’re not living the life you thought all your hard work would bring, and you’re feeling run down in the process – Arthur P Ciaramicoli (Dr C).

You can learn more about the curse here.

I have spent a great deal of time, both in the co-writing of the book and in my life in general, getting free of that curse that drove me non stop for so many years (despite living a a relatively healthy lifestyle focused on fitness and nutrition) and learning what gave rise to it.  After all, besides being caught up in poor lifestyle habits (not sleeping, addictive eating and erratic exercise habits etc) why do think it’s so hard to live a balanced and healthy life?

It’s because of  how we are thinking, which is driving the way we live (work) and achieve our goals. Why we are living (achieving) the way that we are?

What’s driving you?

But there is a sister dynamic to the story (s) that are running in your head; a dynamic that can take you by storm and control your life, particularly if you are running stories of heroism as I like to say, (performance addiction) in your head. The theme of the book “your story” is intermingled with a modern day phenomena of our performance culture. It’s a dynamic that can really cause a problem, particularly for highly capable people who may not have a strong personal foundation and need the praise they get for how much they accomplish and achieve to feel good about themselves.

Don’t take it so personal, the above could describe a huge percentage of the population, including most high achievers, and sure has described me for many years.

It’s the secret dependency of others on you.

Why?

Because you are that capable.

Have you ever been stroked for how great you are, how much you can get done, how amazing your power is etc?

Well the compliment is likely authentic and true, but hidden in there is a little dependency on you.

It goes like this:

People (your boss, your friends, your family, your coworkers)  tell you…”You are so incredibly capable; yeah, you can do it like no one else I’ve every seen,  you are so amazing…” What they are also saying is... “do more, I am depending on you to do more, to get it done, and I will support you…”

Now I guess a certain amount of this is OK, but when it becomes how you identify, you’ve got a problem on your hands. This is when the curse of the capable, really takes it’s hold in my experience; it’s the potential for you to go way outside your edge and try to live into that praise.

Do you like to hear how capable you are? Do you think stuff like, its its going to get done, or done right, I’ve got to do it?…

Guess what?

That’s your story, not theirs!

People will read right from your script, and it is that story that will determine how others depend on you and relate with you.  Are you longing to hear it how capable you are. Do you do more and more to hear it it more? Have you identified as the person who drives, get’s it done, makes it happen?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with recognizing your capabilities and being someone who get’s stuff done, but I have realized over time, studying lifestyle and why people end up overwhelmed, exhausted and overweight… that the supports and the boundaries need to be established.

The old saying, “If it is to be, it’s up to me” has value, but it’s also a trap!

It can’t be all up to you, it needs to be up to you and a team of people (if the endeavor is significant) working together, or down you go.

Here’s the question I have; how is is working out to have so much and perhaps so many dependent on you without enough support? Believe me, I have allot of experience with this; I played into that script for years; to the point of sacrificing my own life!

It gave me power, control and probably other stuff, but it still sucked the life right out me…

Are you sacrificing your life – the time for things other than work and an inordinate amount of energy over and beyond your capacity?

You can’t live in balance with vibrant health and peace of mind, if you have that story, or some version of it, driving you.

There is no force more fundamental to your sustainability and longevity than regeneration, which quite simply means your body will repair itself and recast itself and regain it’s strength when you recover or regenerate vital energy, feed your body nutrient rich foods, and activate and strengthen your body based on a rich reserve of vital energy.

And today, that means you must manage your energy better than ever before if you are going to maintain a physical position of strength, given there are so many energy drains per day (stresses) that if you are not careful you will end up in the downward energy trend.

When we press on and never slow down for yellow lights – the signs and symptoms of too much stress, or not enough energy, or the consequences of not having the right kinds and quality of energy to operate with, you drive yourself into the downward energy trend.

You literally “drive” yourself down (in some cases into the ground) and while the body is resilient it is only resilient to a certain point; which, if passed, no amount of heroic efforts at diet and exercise will turn you around as fat loss resistance and metabolic syndrome will take hold.

Regeneration is quite possibly the most powerful aspect of lifestyle and you need to know it as it is the number 1 (numero uno) consideration for (peak performance) performing at your peak there is, even before food and fitness.

This is a video from my buddy Jon Hinds of the Monkey Bar Gym on the subject as it relates to training, even though he doesn’t refer to “regeneration”.

I will be delving into that subject more at ManageYourEnergy.com, one of the key Performance Lifestyle solutions that we will go live with soon.

If you are feeling low on energy, and your training is not going so well, it’s time to start managing your energy better  by periodizing your schedule.

You can learn the ins and outs on periodization at The Lifestyle Coaching Center.

The real eye opener was our focus on High Energy Yoga, otherwise known as Eischens Yoga. I have practiced this form of yoga before in my first Certified Natural Trainer Intensive at the Monkey Bar Gym 5 years ago, but I don’t think I really got the impact and influence of this particular form of yoga until this trip, when I saw pain relief in minutes and in my case (major pain relief).

This style works for people with different body types, including the too tight and too loose bodies. A person with tight muscles, without much flexibility, can come to this practice and gain freedom of movement. We work to balance the body and the body’s energy flow and this creates balance and a sense of ease (as opposed to efforting).

The other big difference is that we include partner work, the time for hands-on feedback. It goes along well with the general practice of the Monkey Bar Gym, in that we value working together and giving support to one another.

Students partner up with each other to serve as a mirror in a pose and also to give proprioceptive feedback, using the principle of “where I push, you resist.” For example, in a standing pose, I will exert light pressure on the student’s shin so that she can resist her shin into my hand, into my pressure. What this does is create an internal activation or “waking up” a part of the body (in this case the lower leg, foot and ankle) that is otherwise not fully energized and engaged.

Learn more about the The Eichens Yoga Difference

JAM and Rosie in San Diego - Biking at Dr Fuhrman's Health Getaway

JAM here,

I am here in San Diego taking a quarterly vacation, that is “much needed” to say the least. On day one, it felt like I was withdrawing from crystal meth, as I started to pay back my accumulated energy debt from prior months and the past couple weeks.

Paying back energy debt and knowing how to do it is a key lifestyle concept you need to know if you are going to manage your energy well.

Whew! It’s no surprise to me why most of us eat our way through the day most of the time to stimulate ourselves for vital energy.  On Friday night all I wanted to do was eat to buffer the feeling of fatigue which was more extreme than usual because of my travels last week, where I virtually missed an entire night sleep.

The combination end-of-quarter fatigue, the missed night sleep and the intensity of launching the new NutrientRich.com (Tuesday the 13th) all played into a very tough Friday which took experience and fortitude to handle right.

That feeling of extreme fatigue is nothing new for most people especially people who like to be peak performers whether they say that or not. You know, we all need to be peak performers in today’s performance culture whether you’re a soccer mom or a CEO, or both.  It’s just the way it is these days. We know we can’t live at peak all the time, but to be at peak when we need to, you need to know how to manage your energy.

It’s why most people will tell you that they need a few days to wind down before they can actually get into a vacation. The key is to handle energy debt (fatigue) right and plan to handle it ahead of time, if not you end up needing a vacation after your vacation.

Unlike my trip to New Orleans two weeks ago where one decision ended up having a profound impact on my energy for the week; this go around, we ( my business partner and dear friend Rosie Battista and I) left 2 full days before the start of the conference we are attending  – Dr Fuhrman’s Health Getaway here at the Rancho Benardo Resort in San Diego, which is going to be a very relaxing yet chock full week.

My priority is getting out of energy debt and fast not only for the start of the conference, but so that when I come back from the conference, I’m powered up with reserves for the next quarter which I will need.

The only way to do that is to do what we call “facing your true condition“. It’s the process of embracing fatigue for what it is, the process of getting your energy back, by engaging in a focused period of rejuvenation.

If you are new to facing your true condition, it can be  one of the most challenging situations to be in and it requires some real understanding of physiology and energy management; if, you want to get back to your peak performing position sooner than later.

I just faced it on Friday as I arrived and all through Saturday and I’m still working on it today. Actually I will be rejuvenating all week, but the worst is over. As I said earlier it was like withdrawal. But here is Sunday and I already feel like a different person.

The ultimate secret to peak performance, is knowing how to get your energy back either proactively or re-actively given your circumstances.

I’m feeling really good about my tact these past couple days. Today I’m near ready to begin the conference starting tonight and I just finished a great workout down at the spa.

Quick Story: I was on the elliptical while listening to Meeting of the Minds on The Future of Technology, and I looked into the TV glare and saw a great reflection of the shirt I was wearing. It was my friend Shawn Phillips’ T-Shirt for Strength for Life, and on the front it says “Time for Change”. I thought to myself, “yeah it is” and proceeded to think about the changes ahead for me. It’s all a matter of lifestyle; a Performance Lifestyle that is. 

Now kicking my feet up and watching the second half of the World Cup Final.