Physical Energy

The most basic form of energy, and the one we generally think of when we think of having energy in our lives, is physical energy. This is the energy to get up and get moving and do the things that need to be done on a daily basis. It's related to your muscles and organs, your heart and your chemistry and all that stuff.

Now, I'm not really an expert in any of the things I'm about to say, but fortunately there are a lot of experts out there that can substantiate this information. I think many of us, on a daily or near-daily basis, wish we could have more energy. But are we willing to do what it takes?

This isn't rocket science, and most of this will sound familiar. It really does boil down to the basics of diet and exercise.

"What!? Are you telling me there's no mythical 'mojo' principle to having more physical energy? I can't just think like I have the energy and it will just magically be there?!"

Well, maybe. But the principle behind thoughts becoming manifest is that we then act on the thoughts that we hold predominantly in our minds. So this is the action part.

1) Diet. Just some basics here. Think about this: If you owned a million dollar race horse, what would you feed it? Snickers and coke? Doubtful. Consider what you're putting into your body. I read recently that for optimum health, don't put anything into your body you can't imagine in nature. For example, you can picture a field of wheat being ground to make bread. You can see a steak or chicken as having once been an animal. Vegetables are easy in this respect. But can you picture a fountain of diet coke in the mountains? Or an orchard of twinkie-trees?

Also, eat more smaller meals. And don't skimp on breakfast, but make breakfast healthy. Donuts and coffee aren't it. Try a glass of juice with a whole-grain toast, etc.

One more thing: water. Drink lots and lots of water. Depending on what you read, 70-85% of your body is water. You need water. Drink when you're not thirsty. More than one source recommends drinking an ounce of water per day for each two pounds of body weight (yes, that's about 3 liters for guys like me). Drink drink drink (alcohol doesn't count!)

There is much much more that can be written and discussed on the field of diet, and I encourage you to get out and find what you can and read up on it. Then put it into practice and discover what works for you. Not just in terms of weight loss, but in terms of energy and how you feel throughout the day, based on what you eat.

2) Exercise. Libraries have been written on this subject as well. But again, this isn't brain surgery either. Personally, I like to run. I completed my first marathon last fall (in less than stellar fashion, but that's another post). I'm currently training for my second marathon coming up this May, and I plan on running this October in a re-do of last fall's marathon. Aerobic exercise burns calories, but more importantly than that, it increases your body's ability to get oxygen to your muscles, including your brain.

Strength training can be overlooked for people who are focused on an aerobic sport like running or cycling. But building lean muscle mass will help you have more energy throughout the day as well. Again, find what works for you. Run, walk, ride, but get out and do something!

3) One more thing that shouldn't be overlooked in the realm of physical energy is recovery. Your body needs rest to rebuild from the stresses of exercise. When you lift weights and push your muscle to its current capacity, and in some cases, slightly beyond its current capacity, your muscle fiber is actually being broken down, and will be replaced by a bigger, stronger muscle fiber during the period of rest following your workout. Capacity is actually built from a combination of exertion and recovery. So get the sleep you need (7-8 hours a night... not 10-12!) and be sure to take a rest day every so often from your workouts. I work out (either running, cycling, or strength-training) six days a week. Sunday is the rest day. But I also vary my workouts so the same muscle group (except my legs via running) is never worked twice in a row. But that's just me. Again, experiment and see what works for you.

So, this is just a primer on some basic ways to increase your physical energy. Yes, your thoughts matter. If you don't think about improving your physical self, you'll never do it. Again, I welcome constructive comments and feedback!

PEMS

I've been listening to a book on CD entitled The Power of Full Engagement. It's all about energy and how to be fully engaged in your work, home, and all other aspects of your life. I highly recommend it. In any case, the authors of this book talk about the four areas of your life in which you need to learn to train and grow to get the most energy into your life. (That sounds really bad, but you get the idea!)

1) Physical. Physical energy is pretty basic, and you pretty much know what you need to do here. Eat right, exercise, get enough rest. In order to build muscle and to be healthy, this is what you need to do.

2) Emotional. Emotional energy is what keeps you stress free and able to give love and to care for and about others.

3) Mental. Mental energy is the energy that keeps your brain working, the energy to think and to make clear and rational decisions.

4) Spiritual Energy is the most fundamental energy. It is different from religion, in that it is merely the ability to live by a set of values and deeply held beliefs.

In the coming weeks I will focus more on each of these types of energy, and how to develop and strengthen them to enable you to lead a more balanced and productive life. I'm excited about this! Till then...

11 tips...

Letting go, again

... letting go of your need to read this blog. Only kidding. I mean, I knew it had been a while since I updated, but I didn't realize it had been that long. My apologies!

Today's topic is:

Let go of your need to be superior.

You really don't need to be "the best there is" in any given endeavor. In fact, if you keep at it long enough, you'll find someone who is better at it than you are. And that's okay. Once you let go of your need to be superior, you can accept the fact that there are people who are better at things, and that's okay.

You don't need to be better than anyone else, you only need to be better than you were. The point of this post and this point of view is NOT to tell you to be satisfied with mediocrity - after all, someone's going to be better than you anyway - not at all. The point is to give up the comparisons between you and someone else.

Constant self-improvement is the goal. One of the cool things here is that once you let go of your need to be better than others, and you start focusing on being better than you were yesterday, you'll find you'll be a lot better than a lot of people at a lot of things... but you won't care. :)

Let go, Part Deux

Today's topic:

Let go of your need to be right.

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"A man who lives right, and is right, has more power in his silence than another has by his words." -- Phillips Brooks

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How many arguments can cease, fights avoided, relationships healed, minds opened, if we will just abandon our need to be right about everything, all the time?

Chances are you know someone like this. Someone who always needs to be right, and will argue and belabor a subject to death before conceding even the slightest point. Who wants to be around a person like that? Not I.

A powerful phrase to allow into your vocabulary, "You may be right about that," said without sarcasm, can stop arguments faster than any other method I'm aware of. You don't have to believe it. You don't have to accept the point as fact. Just cease needing to be right about everything.

One has to be secure in himself to have the ability to do this. You have to know that being right in your own mind is much more important than showing it to everyone you meet. Simply allow others the opportunity to be right, and you may discover that you were indeed wrong about something or someone, and your perspective has changed and left you a better person for it. You never know.

Let Go, Let God

Okay, for the next several posts I'm going to discuss a couple of things we really need to let go of. There's an axiom in the Christian world, predominantly (I guess it could be just about anywhere, but that's where I've seen it the most) that goes "Let Go, Let God". There is something to this. When we can surrender our need to be in control of everything and just trust in a devine timing and a devine source that is directing our lives to one degree or another, amazing things can happen. So for the few posts, I'm going to talk about ways of letting go in a few specific aspects of life. These have been mentioned by many self-help gurus, but specifically I got a lot of this from Wayne Dyer.

Let go of your need to win.

This is such a prevalent theme in today's culture, especially here in America. Now, I'm a huge sports fan, and I love it when my team wins. Sometimes, however, my team doesn't win... whether that's my child's soccer team or the Utah Jazz. The trick here is not ceasing to strive to win, but letting go of your NEED to win. Decide that you can accept the outcome, especially of sporting events, without letting it affect your mood. Just look at riots that have happened in major cities because of the winning or losing of a specific team. Give me a break, people.

I have struggled with this in the past. There have been days when I'll be watching a game and my team is losing and I'll be in a seriously bad mood. This is what I'm talking about. Just let it go. Realize that in the grand scheme of things, "winning" is not that big of a deal. As you're getting all wrapped up in the event, think of someone you know who may be struggling with some major challenges, like cancer or divorce. Not to get you depressed or anything, but just to get things back in perspective. Remember how the sporting world came to a stop in the days following 9/11?

Just some food for thought. Comments welcome.

So... what are you thinking about today?

Just a friendly neighborhood reminder to remember what you're thinking about this week, especially as Independence Day approaches. On this great holiday, you can dwell on all that is wrong in our country -- the war, the poverty, the crime, the disease, the corruption... whatever. Or, you can dwell on what makes this country great: The liberty, the freedom, the goodness of its citizens, the families.

Watching the news probably isn't going to help on the positive-focusing. But then, it rarely does.

Stay focused!

PS. Sorry for the long delay between posts here. I aim to make this more of a blog than book notes in the near future. Hopefully someone will get something out of it!