Week 9 – Sustainable Energy: The Hidden Key to Goal Achievement

Let me take you through two phases of my life: GCSE’s verse A Levels:

  1. GCSEs: I was working till 11.30 every night. I was waking up at 6 am to work more without consistent breaks or even going outside to enjoy myself.
  2. A Levels: I would work with 15-minute breaks from 9 am to 6 pm. I took a 1.5-hour walk afterwards, had dinner, and unwinded before bed.

I performed significantly better in my A Levels and felt so much happier. How did I achieve this balance?

My energy usage.

Jim Loehr in his book: The Power of Full Engagement argues that we have four energy stores:

  1. Mental.
  2. Physical.
  3. Emotional.
  4. Spiritual.

To be able to gain the most progress from them, we need to allow them time and space to recover.

In other words, to engage the most in our goal, we need to be able to actively disengage at certain points.

This is the power of energy management.

This week, I will argue that energy management is a critical factor in goal achievement.

So let’s begin. Energy is a resource. We use it all the time. From getting out of bed to getting into the car to drive or sitting down to write a long essay.

All that we do requires energy. David Rock puts this into an interesting context:

  • The Mind is like a theatre. The stage is your memory and there are five functions of memory:
    • Understand
    • Recall
    • Decide
    • Memorise
    • Inhibit
  • On the stage, there are two concepts. There are actors (objects or stimuli). There is the audience (maps of information that you create).
  • These maps of information are the value of what you do.
  • Your energy is used to connect those actors to the audience. From a stimuli like a clean desk, you will gain more energy and be able to work to higher level.
  • So we need to ensure that our mind is responding to the right stimuli to ensure our energy remains high.

So here is a practical tip that you can implement. Every day, write down one thing that depletes your energy / makes you feel less likely to do a task. It could be an untidy desk or dehydration.

We have now understood that energy is contained in four main stores. Each of these stores helps your mind to perform a specific function to help you progress to your goals.

How do we sustainably manage this though?

Here are four strategies to do this and I am going to take you through this in the context of my A Levels:

  1. Energy matching. I made sure that the hardest tasks I did were in the morning as this was when I felt the most energetic. It will be different for you, but aligning this makes you feel and work better.
  2. Strategic Recovery. As Jim Loehr said, I made sure I gave time to recover and disengage from my work. After working I would go on an hour walk listening to music or a podcast. I would follow 75 minutes of hard work with 15 minutes of relaxation.
  3. Energy Boundaries. I knew that between 10 am and 12 pm, I was the most energetic. So I protected that time for the work that mattered most to me. I told my parents and brother to not disturb me at all, and I ensured if my phone was on me, it was on DnD.
  4. Energy Amplifiers. My environment for working towards progress had items that increased my energy. A full water bottle at my desk was key for keeping energy during past papers. Also, having my windows open with curtains open allowed for natural light and air to fuel me.

These four strategies helped me maintain my energy stores throughout exam season.

This will help you achieve your goals.

But we are missing one thing. Underpinning all this energy management is one key phenomenon.

Sleep.

Sleep is our superpower. Matt Walker put it best when he said that for men who don’t sleep well, they have less testosterone and less energy. His study goes:

  • People who slept a full 8 hours had a 40% increase in learning ability compared to those who didn’t.

If you sleep, you will perform better. But, this is not just for your mind, but also for your body.

Sleep improves your immune system. 8 hours sleep compared to 4 hours sleep increases your immunity by 70%.

People struggle to progress because of poor health which harms their energy.

They constantly push themselves too hard that they fall ill.

Good sleep reduces this.

During exam season, I tried my upmost to sleep 8 hours, and where I couldn’t, I made sure I got a nap in the day.

Progress comes from rhythmic cycles of engagement and disengagement. This is fueled by sustainable energy management and sleep.

Here is your weekly challenge:

  1. Take one goal.
  2. Find one new way to turn your brain off after working towards that goal.
  3. Assess your environment and sleep for that goal,. Put in place the four strategies.
  4. Track your progress.

Have a great week 🙂

Dylan.