The Power of Full Engagement

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. (Location 118)

Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance. (Location 134)

Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the (Location 142)

skillful management of energy. (Location 142)

Leaders are the stewards of organizational energy—in companies, organizations and even in families. (Location 150)

To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest. (Location 153)

Full engagement begins with feeling eager to get to work in the morning, equally happy to return home in the evening and capable of setting clear boundaries between the two. It means being able to immerse yourself in the mission you are on, whether that is grappling with a creative challenge at work, managing a group of people on a project, spending time with loved ones or simply having fun. (Location 154)

implies a fundamental shift in the way we live our lives. (Location 156)

Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. (Location 221)

Because energy capacity diminishes both with overuse and with underuse, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent (Location 241)

energy renewal. (Location 242)

MIND AND BODY ARE ONE (Location 242)

The richest, happiest and most productive lives are characterized by the ability to fully engage in the challenge at hand, but also to disengage periodically and seek renewal. (Location 261)

To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do. (Location 270)

Any form of stress that prompts discomfort has the potential to expand our capacity—physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually—so long as it is followed by adequate recovery. (Location 281)

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” (Location 282)

Positive energy rituals—highly specific routines for managing energy—are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance. (Location 285)

Making changes that endure, we have found, is a three-step process that we call Purpose-Truth-Action. (Location 306)

“How should I spend my energy in a way that is consistent with my deepest values?” (Location 309)

Log on to our PowerofFullEngagement.com website and take a brief version of our Full Engagement Inventory. (Location 325)

It’s hard to be focused and excited when you’re under so much pressure. (Location 486)

Today, “work-rest” ratios lie at the heart of periodization, a training method used by elite athletes throughout the world. (Location 498)

Energy is simply the capacity to do work. Our most fundamental need as human beings is to spend and recover energy. (Location 503)

Full engagement requires cultivating a dynamic balance between the expenditure of energy (stress) and the renewal of energy (recovery) in all dimensions. We call this rhythmic wave oscillation, and it represents the fundamental pulse of life. The more powerful our pulse, the more fully engaged we can be. (Location 519)

the day and a couple of drinks or several glasses of wine to disengage in the evening, you are simply masking your own linearity. (Location 554)

The intensity of pleasure that we derive from a given activity tends to diminish over time. Much (Location 756)

When we feel challenged rather than threatened, we are more willing to extend ourselves, even if that means taking some risk and experiencing some discomfort along the way. (Location 777)

the key to expanding capacity is both to push beyond one’s ordinary limits and to regularly seek recovery, which is when growth actually occurs. (Location 782)

Deep, smooth and rhythmic breathing is simultaneously a source of energy, alertness and focus as well as of relaxation, stillness and quiet—the ultimate healthy pulse. (Location 820)

It is the most powerful source of our motivation, perseverance and direction. We define “spiritual” not in the religious sense, but rather in more simple and elemental terms: the connection to a deeply held set of values and to a purpose beyond our self-interest. At the practical level, anything that ignites the human spirit serves to drive full engagement and to maximize performance in whatever mission we are on. The key muscle that fuels spiritual energy is character—the courage and conviction to live by our values, even when doing so requires personal sacrifice and hardship. Supportive spiritual muscles include passion, commitment, integrity and honesty. (Location 1779)

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” (Location 1895)

Some truths are too unbearable to be absorbed all at once. Emotions such as grief are best metabolized in waves. • Truth without compassion is cruelty—to others and to ourselves. (Location 2606)

“At all times the focus must be on doing things properly. Every play. Every practice. Every meeting. Every situation. Every time.” (Location 2798)