Three core questions – Question 3: How’s your energy?

I’d like to start the approach to the third core question with a question.

Have you ever got to the point when you feel like you’ve just got nothing left in the tank, but somehow you manage to struggle through to the end?

I’m sure you’ve experienced this in some way or another in your life.

I clearly remember the first time I ever attempted a long-form endurance bike ride (the 5 Dams Challenge in Perth) I was totally underprepared.

At the time it was a 250km long event, with over 2500 metres of vertical climbing involved and the longest training ride I had done was 120 kms.

On the day of the event by the time I reached the 120km stop point, I felt like I had completely run out of energy. It’s fair to say the remainder of the day was ‘unpleasant’, and not an experience I wanted to live through in the same way, ever again.

My legs were heavy and so was my heart.

My mind was just not in the game.

The emotional rollercoaster that day was extreme.

And when I finally crossed the finish line there was no feeling of joy, satisfaction or accomplishment. Somehow, I felt hollow, empty and physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, when I should have felt elated.

What could have ended, had I prepared better, in celebration instead ended in pure relief that the experience was over?

Yet, it wouldn’t be until a few years later that I’d come to truly learn how deeply embedded my over-performance approach to life was...

The point here is that it’s your choice to decide what your goals are and how to approach them.

And there are multiple routes you can take to achieve those goals.

The key decision that you need to make is to determine how you want to experience the process of achieving those goals.

It can either be joyful, miserable or just a bit meh. It really is your choice.

The approach you choose is underpinned by the third core question:

“How’s your energy?”

When you develop a deeper understanding of your physical, mental and emotional energy levels, as well as how and what causes them to fluctuate over time, you’ll be better informed about how to approach your short-term and long-term goals in a way that is actually sustainable.

It’s really easy for anyone to achieve short-term performance goals at the expense of their own energy but what does this mean for longer-term progress?

Whenever you think about your approach to life, leadership or performance, a powerful question to ask yourself before you get carried away with setting ambitious stretch targets is;

“How’s my energy?”

Many people find that there is a series of less obvious goals that sit behind these stretch goals, which if they’re not addressed will make achieving the stretch goals really hard, painful and unsustainable.

Put simply, the more energy you build and maintain the more likely you are to be able to stay the course.

It’s your choice to determine which track to take and whether you find yourself or lose yourself in pursuit of your goals.

Jeremy

Latest book notification

I’m excited to let you know that my latest book:  “Staying the Course – How to find yourself in pursuit of your goals” is in full development.  Here’s a sneak peak at the contents page