You may have a
thousand different goals over the course of your lifetime, but
they all will fall into one of four basic categories. Everything
you do is an attempt to enhance the quality of your life in one
or more of these areas.
The first category is your desire for happy relationships. You
want to love and be loved by others. You want to have a happy,
harmonious home life. You want to get along well with the people
around you, and you want to earn the respect of the people you
respect. Your involvement in social and community affairs
results from your desire to have happy interactions with others
and to make a contribution to the society you live in.
The second category is your desire for interesting and
challenging work. You want to make a good living, of course, but
more than that, you want to really enjoy your occupation or
profession. The very best times of your life are when you are
completely absorbed in your work.
The third category is your desire for financial independence.
You want to be free from worries about money. You want to have
enough money in the bank so that you can make decisions without
counting your pennies. You want to achieve a certain financial
state so that you can retire in comfort and never have to be
concerned about whether or not you have enough money to support
your lifestyle. Financial independence frees you from poverty
and a need to depend upon others for your livelihood. If you
save and invest regularly throughout your working life, you will
eventually reach the point where you will never have to work
again.
The fourth category is your desire for good health, to be free
of pain and illness and to have a continuous flow of energy and
feelings of well-being. In fact, your health is so central t
your life that you take it for granted until something happens
to disrupt it.
The common denominator of these four goals, and the essential
requirement for achieving each of them, is a high level of
energy. The achievement of even a small amount of success in any
one of these areas requires the development and expenditure of
energy. Energy is a critical fuel and the one ingredient without
which no other accomplishment is possible.
The aim of strategic planning for corporations is to find ways
to organize the business to increase ROE, return on equity. ROE
refers to the return on the capital invested in the enterprise.
By shifting resources from areas of lower value to areas of
higher potential value, the ROE in the business an be increased.
In personal strategic planning, the aim is similar. It is also
to increase ROE, but in this case, ROE stands for return on
energy. All the work on personal development, self-improvement,
goal setting, and time management is aimed at helping you to
increase your return on energy, or as my friend Ken Blanchard
calls it, “your return on life.” You are continually organizing
and reorganizing your time and your resources so that you can
get the very most pleasure, satisfaction, and rewards from the
time and energy you put into your activities on a day-to-day
basis.
Whereas companies have financial capital, you have human
capital. Your human capital is composed of mental, emotional,
and physical energy. The more energy you have to invest, and the
more intelligently you invest it, the greater will be your
rewards.
It is not the amount of time that you spend at your work or on
your relationships that matters. Rather, it is the amount of
yourself that you put into the time. If you have gone to bed
late, gotten up early, and gone to work tired, you may be
physically present for eight hours, but the quality and quantity
of work that you can accomplish during that period of time is
compromised. You’ll achieve only a small percentage of your
potential productivity compared with what you can accomplish
when you are fully rested and filled with enthusiasm.
In every area of your life, it is the quality of the time that
you put into your activities that determines the rewards and
satisfaction that you receive from them; this depends upon your
energy level.
Building and sustaining your energy level is imperative. Since
your energy is central to everything you accomplish, you should
be very sensitive to things that either build or deplete it.
Here are six keys to building and maintaining a high level of
energy and vitality:
Proper weight. Carrying extra weight on your body is like
carrying a pack loaded with bricks on your back - uphill. Excess
weight tires you out. It taxes your heart, your lungs, and your
muscles. Extra weight forces your body to burn up more energy
than it normally would just to maintain life and proper
functioning.
On the other hand, losing weight will increase your energy level
almost immediately. Your self-esteem will go up. You will feel
healthier and happier. As you lose weight, you will feel a
greater sense of power and personal control. When you reach your
ideal weight, you will be more effective in everything else you
do.
Proper diet. The foods you eat have a tremendous impact on your
energy level throughout the day. Changes in your diet can make
you feel fresher, more alive, more alert, and filled with
greater vitality than you can imagine.
The way to live to a ripe, happy, healthy old age is to shift
the proportions of food you eat so you are consuming more
fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products. When you get used
to eating highly nutritious foods, you’ll be less willing to eat
foods that are not particularly good for you.
Proper exercise. The more regularly you exercise, the more
energy you have, the better you feel, and the longer you will
live. Regular exercise enhances your digestion, reduces the
number of hours that you need to sleep, and increases your
vitality in the physical, mental, and emotional realms.
There are three basic types of exercise: flexibility, strength,
and endurance.
Flexibility exercises, such as yoga, require gentle stretching
of all your muscles and the articulation of each of your joints
each day. The more you stretch your muscles on a regular basis,
the more relaxed, coordinated, and looser you will feel.
Strength exercises include calisthenics, weight lifting, and
other exercises that build your muscles.
But perhaps the most important are endurance, or aerobic,
exercises. One of the keys to long life and good health is
aerobic exercise at least three times per week for a minimum of
30 minutes per time. You can achieve aerobic fitness by walking,
running, swimming, cycling, rowing, or cross-country skiing. The
important thing is that you exercise at least three times per
week - and many people say five times per week - for the rest of
your life. This will affect your levels of health and energy in
everything else you do. Everything counts.
Proper rest and recreation. On average, you need seven to eight
hours of good, solid sleep each night. Some people can get by on
less. But you should plan and organize your evenings so that you
are “early to bed and early to rise.” Remember, nature demands
balance in all things. If you are going to work hard during the
day, you must take time off to rest and recuperate in the
evenings and on the weekends. The more balance you have between
work and recreation, the more energy you will have and the more
productive you will be.
Proper breathing. By breathing, I mean deep diaphragmatic
breathing, where you fill your lungs to the count of 10, hold to
the count of 10, and then exhale to the count of 10. If you do
this seven to 10 times, two or three times per day, you will be
amazed at how much fresher and more relaxed you feel.
Proper attitude. Positive Mental Attitude seems to go hand in
hand with great achievement and success in every walk of life.
The more positive you are, the more energy you have. The more
positive you are, the happier you are. The more positive you
are, the more positive are the people and situations you attract
into your life. The more positive you are, the easier it seems
for you to get the cooperation of other people. The more
positive you are, the more effectively you perform.
On the other hand, negative emotions drain your energy,
enthusiasm, and vitality. They tire you out and depress your
immune system. Bouts of fear, anger, doubt, resentment, or guilt
will be manifested in your physical body.
Keep your energy level high by always looking for the good in
every person, in every situation. Seek the valuable lesson in
every setback or adversity. Look for the equal or greater
benefit that comes out of every disappointment. Be a perennial
optimist. Be cheerful and positive. Be helpful and supportive.
Be a source of encouragement and inspiration. Be the kind of
person everybody looks forward to seeing and talking to.
Every success is the result of hundreds, and perhaps thousands,
of tiny efforts that nobody may ever see or appreciate. These
tiny efforts, sacrifices, and disciplines accumulate to make you
an extraordinary person.
Everything that you do counts in some way. Nothing is neutral.
Everything either helps you or hurts you. Everything either adds
up or takes away. Everything either propels you toward your goal
or moves you away from it. Everything counts.
With regard to your levels of health and energy, everything that
you do, or don’t do, will have an impact on how you feel and how
you perform. And the results of all these activities are
cumulative. People who are healthy and energetic in their 50s
and 60s were engaging in positive health habits in their 20s and
30s. People who live a long, healthy, happy life into their 80s
are people who began planning for it and disciplining themselves
in their 30s and 40s. Everything counts.
About Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy is a leading
authority on personal and business success. As Chairman and CEO
of
Brian Tracy International, he is the best-selling
author of 17 books and over 300 audio and video learning
programs. Copyright © 2001 Brian Tracy International. All Rights
Reserved.
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