Managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance

Energy oscillation is the key:

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, in their book The Power of Full Engagement teach that managing energy (not time) is the key to high performance. Listen to the first paragraph of the book:

"We live in digital time. Our rhythms are rushed, rapid fire and relentless, our days carved up into bits and bytes. We celebrate breadth rather than depth, quick reaction more than considered reflection. We skim across the surface, alighting for brief moments at dozens of destinations but rarely remaining long at any one. We race through our lives without pausing to consider who we really want to be or where we really want to go. We're wired up but we're melting down."

Successful selling, maybe more than any other profession, requires a complete understanding of energy management. Energy management is an entire science in and of itself. We can't do the subject justice in short blog posts, and thus stress the importance of studying a book like the one mentioned above. Another great read, with very similar teachings is Stephen Covey's book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. Reflect on these two sentences, the first from Loehr's book and the second from Covey's book:

"To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest."

"I will tap my talents (mental capacity) and fuel my passions (emotional capacity) in a way that rises out of a great need (physical capacity) in the world that I am drawn to by conscience (spiritual capacity) to meet - for therein lies my voice, my true-calling, my soul's code."

Tomorrow we will focus more on the word 'oscillation' and the importance of moving in and out of each of the capacities, and learn how we build emotional, mental and spiritual energy in exactly the same way we build physical energy. When we understand this, and put rituals in our life that allow us to rhythmically move in and out of each area, we can then (and only then) succeed in the other key characteristics of successful selling.