The Power of Full Engagement Summary and Review | Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal
Jim Loehr’s Perspective
Jim Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist. He used his knowledge to co-found the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and often writes for the Harvard Business Review. He is the author of 17 self-help books, including his most recent, Leading with Character. It is his belief that our character is our most powerful tool when it comes to optimizing performance in our home and work lives.
Tony Schwartz’s Perspective
Tony Schwartz is an American journalist and business book author. In the 1980s, he co-authored Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal. Tony has also co-authored a book with the then CEO of Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner. He writes a bi-weekly column for The New York Times on financial news.
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Introduction
“The more we take responsibility for the energy we bring to the world, the more empowered and productive we become. The more we blame others or external circumstances, the more negative and compromised our energy is likely to be.” — Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. Click to TweetCan you reach your peak performance levels without the right sort of energy? Did you know that there is more than one type of energy that fuels your success? The Power of Full Engagement emphasizes the importance of energy for both sports and professional performance. In the digital age, time management is no longer an option. We have access to the rest of the world 24/7. The Power of Full Engagement tells us how to reclaim control of our energy rather than our time.
Released in 2003, it is a New York Times bestseller and has helped many companies improve efficiency.
StoryShot #1: Energy, Not Time, Is Our Most Precious Resource
Our performance runs on the currency of energy. The best energy state for improving performance is full engagement. The time we spend on something is not what makes our life work. Instead, the energy we bring to that time is important.
Four principles underpin full engagement. The first type of energy is physical. We all understand physical energy. It is the type that helps us move. As with all energy, physical energy depends on flexibility, endurance, and strength.
The second type of energy is emotional. Emotional flexibility allows us to express a vast range of feelings. We experience different emotions in different situations. We can also experience several emotions during one experience. For example, a scary experience might include fear, curiosity, and perseverance.
Mental energy is integral to focus. It is necessary for resilience. We draw on this when we feel like giving up, but we know we cannot. An example of this would be completing mundane work tasks, as you would lose your job if you did not do them.
The final type is spiritual energy. Spiritual energy is about keeping in touch with our core values. We use our spiritual energy to help us make the right decisions. Our morals help dictate our decision-making. An example of this would be rejecting a well-paid job at an unethical company.
To reach our peak performance, we must ensure that all four energy levels are as full as possible. Our physical and emotional energy levels are the most important. But all energy types contribute to our performance.
StoryShot #2: We Must Balance Energy Expenditure With Energy Renewal
Energy expenditure is vital for peak performance. But, we need to learn how to replenish our energy reserves after expenditure. Here are five ways you can encourage energy replenishment:
- Oscillation: Every biological process in the human body oscillates. Nothing is continually working in your body. Even your heart takes breaks between beats. If all you do is work and push yourself, you will struggle. So, you need to take time off to renew your energy. We have to be more like sprinters with our work. Work very hard when doing essential tasks or during important meetings. Then, we must relax.
- Rituals: Athletes can manage extraordinary demands by building powerful rituals. Rituals improve our resilience. We should build rituals around eating, exercising, and activities with friends and family.
- Awareness of your energy levels: You have to be aware of your energy levels to respond appropriately. One way to do this is by using a timer that prompts you to take breaks. But this is not always dependent on your energy levels at that point. Therefore, you need to learn when your energy levels are low and you need a break. For example, if you have to read an email 3 or 4 times, you will likely need a break. We must pay attention to the ‘window of circadian uncertainty.’ This low-energy time is often between 2 and 4 pm.
- A positive mindset: If you feel stressed or something terrible has happened, it is easy to be negative. Do something positive to reset your mood. Enjoy your favorite food or watch your favorite comedian. To recover mentally, you have to turn off the negative response neurons. Do something that uses a different part of your brain. The brain works best when it is entirely on, then turned fully off.
- Reconnect to your purpose: Your experience should align with your values. You should engage in purposeful activities to refill your spiritual energy reserves. You could spend time with loved ones or read literature that has meaning to you.
StoryShot #3: We Need to Train Like Athletes
Our energy reserves are not infinite. Thus, we cannot continually work. If we did this, it would lead to burnout. We need to train our four energy types like muscles.
Taking small steps outside our comfort zone increases our energy reserves. With the analogy of muscles, we tear muscle fibers, so they can grow. In the same way, we sometimes have to push ourselves harder than the average person to build up our reserves. Like athletes, we have to let ourselves recover after depleting our energy reserves.
Imagine having constant negative thoughts due to a build-up of negative emotional energy. Instead of ignoring them, you should write these thoughts on paper. This forces you to re-read these thoughts. It might be uncomfortable, but it prompts you to track your feelings. Thus, strengthening your emotional energy the next time you have negative thoughts.
These key muscles fuel positive emotional energy: self-confidence, self-control, interpersonal effectiveness, and empathy. Negative emotions are essential for survival, but they are not crucial for performance. To make our emotional muscles accessible, we have to balance exercise and recovery.
A great leader can foster positive emotions in colleagues in times of stress. Do this by encouraging them with enjoyable, fulfilling, and affirming activities.
StoryShot #4: Build Positive Energy Rituals
The most important rituals are those associated with positive energy. One of the benefits of rituals is that they become habits. Habits use less brain activity, saving us time and energy. Only 5 percent of our actions are conscious. So, 95 percent of our actions are rituals.
Complete self-control requires too much energy. Thus, rituals are fundamental to balancing our energy expenditure and renewal.
As well as saving energy, rituals create positive patterns that help us live by our values. Living by our values helps us develop our spiritual energy.
You should develop rituals through substitution. This involves training yourself to do something good every time you are tempted to do something bad. For example, every time you want a packet of potato chips, you would instead have a handful of nuts. Eventually, eating nuts will become a ritual. If you can continue to introduce new rituals, you can align your life with your values.
StoryShot #5: Accepting Your Limitations Encourages Positive Energy
“Because the rest of us are evaluated more by what we do with our minds than with our bodies, we tend to discount the role that physical energy plays in performance. In most jobs, the physical body has been completely cut off from the performance equation. In reality, physical energy is the fundamental source of fuel, even if our work is almost completely sedentary.” – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.
Many of us avoid reality so we can suppress our negative feelings. Eventually, this approach can deplete our energy levels. Instead, we should accept our limitations so we can manage them. An example of this is constructive criticism. It is common for people to take constructive criticism as a personal attack. Instead, we should understand the message and use it to improve our performance.
It depletes more energy and involves more mental effort to avoid the truth than accept it. Ignoring constructive criticism may improve your self-esteem in the short term. However, you will continue to make these mistakes and have the same criticism if you do not accept it the first time. A willingness to create positive energy increases positive energy levels.
StoryShot #6: Maintenance of All Energy Types Relies Upon Our Physical Energy
“We survive on too little sleep, wolf down fast foods on the run, fuel up with coffee and cool down with alcohol and sleeping pills. Faced with relentless demands at work, we become short-tempered and easily distracted. We return home from long days at work feeling exhausted and often experience our families not as a source of joy and renewal, but as one more demand in an already overburdened life.” — Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.
Our physical energy is the fundamental source of all other energies. Our physical energy comes from an interaction between oxygen and glucose. Oxygen and glucose depend on our sleep and breathing patterns and what and how we eat.
You should aim to eat foods known to increase energy levels. For example, nuts and green leafy vegetables are crucial. These foods provide a gradual energy source that lasts for a long time. Additionally, you should eat more meals that consist of fewer calories. Five to six low-calorie, nutritious meals per day is ideal.
On top of this, we must ensure we are drinking enough water. Muscles dehydrated by just 3% lose approximately 10% of their strength. You should drink sixty-four ounces of water daily. This act is vital for effectively maintaining physical energy.
Finally, our sleep patterns are significant for maintaining our physical energy levels. You should aim for between seven and eight hours per night. This might differ depending on your personal needs. Additionally, going to bed earlier and waking up earlier will optimize your performance.
Maintaining a high level of physical energy should also improve our mental energy. Studies suggest that regularly playing sports makes us around 70% more productive. This does not mean you have to start running for an hour every day. Instead, try to make small changes in your life. For example, take the stairs rather than the elevator at work. Plus, build your physical capacity by engaging with interval training. This type of training boosts recovery and increases your physical energy reserves.
This can also strengthen our emotional energy. When our bodies are low on physical energy reserves, we stress more. Low physical energy levels make us irritable. To maintain positive emotional energy, we need to focus on our physical energy.
StoryShot #7: Training Your Mental Energy Can Encourage Creativity and Focus
Creativity is one of the most important skills in the modern world. Combining creativity with efficiency and concentration helps us reach peak performance. Yet, over-focusing on each of these factors can limit the effectiveness of the others. This is where mental energy is crucial. We have to adopt realistic optimism. We must accept how things are while working towards a desired goal with a positive attitude. As soon as you find a way to maintain this attitude and focus, you can start to incorporate creativity.
One way to build your mental energy is to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try new activities and new ways of doing things. Being adventurous will help your ‘muscles’ of mental energy grow. With enough mental energy, you can manage creativity, efficiency, and focus effectively.
StoryShot #8: Spiritual Energy Combines With Motivation
Although we aren’t all spiritual, we all have spiritual energy. This energy is associated with our morals and purposes and motivates us in everything we do. A source of motivation outside our interests moves us in the right direction.
For example, smokers generally only think about their immediate gains when smoking. Yet, women often give up smoking if they become pregnant. They give up because they now have a source of motivation: their child’s health. We must constantly search for these types of motivation in our lives. These motivations will guide us no matter the circumstances.
StoryShot #9: An Overarching Positive Goal Is Vital for Motivation
An overarching goal is vital for our daily motivation and commitment to tasks. We must understand how to identify the right goal for us. As long as the goal you choose is right for you, it will provide a reliable energy source. These goals must be long-term. They have to apply to various circumstances, not just your immediate goals. Hence, you have to try to identify a moral standpoint that applies to all that you do. Once you have this goal, you must use it in all circumstances. You will then have the energy for even the most tedious tasks.
Final Summary and Review of The Power of Full Engagement
By noticing and fueling our different types of energy, we can best utilize our minds and bodies for efficiency. This works in all settings, from sporting situations to the office and beyond. The Power of Full Engagement enables us to make the most of our energy types so that we can be fully engaged for peak performance.
Rating
We rate this book 4/5.
Disclaimer
This article is an unofficial summary and analysis. It was first published in March 2022.
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