How is your energy level? What about your physical energy?
If you’re anything like the clients I work with, you’ve experienced some shifts over the last 12 months, mostly related to stress. We know that too much stress without recuperation can deplete our energy, and wreak havoc on our health. Left unchecked, our body’s natural cortisol response can actually weaken our immune system. Add to that overeating, and we block energy production.
To jump start your motivation and boost your physical energy:
- Move your body. Even if it’s only a minute of stretching, jumping up and down, or a turn about a room, corridor, or neighborhood, it can generate good feelings and elevate your mood.
- Identify SMART Stretch Goals. Your physical SMART goals can (and should) be related to activities and exercise, food and drink consumption, rest and relaxation, and wellness checkups with your medical care provider. (Yes, many of us have allowed these to lapse this year.) Like a big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG,) your stretch goal should be something you dream of achieving and is beyond your current capacity. In other word, you have no real idea of how to get it accomplished. If you do know how to get it done, then it’s not really a stretch goal.
- Create healthy habits and routines that support your goals. If you find yourself lacking the motivation, willpower, or discipline to complete the activities that will help you reach your goals, don’t feel bad. The reality is making a decision and taking action depletes our mental and physical energy. To conserve precious brain energy, create healthy habits and routines that are automatic and eliminate decision-making.
Physical Energy for Organizations
While it typically may be managers who succumb to burnout most frequently, no one is exempt. Idealists, perfectionists, and the highly conscientious who are dedicated and committed to doing well are particularly vulnerable. As a leader or manager, help your employees boost their physical energy:
- Ensure work environments are safe.
- Invest in building, equipment, and systems maintenance and needed upgrades.
- Learn to recognize the warning signs of burnout, before it happens. Are your direct reports easily annoyed? Are they expressing impatience or discontent? Now is not the time to ignore it. Explore with empathy and curiosity.
Peak performance requires attention to physical energy, especially when under intense pressures. And while it may seem like simple common sense, we often fail to follow it.
What do you think? What action are you taking with regards to your physical energy management? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me here, on LinkedIn, or give me a call: 561-582-6060.
