What are you consuming that you don't really need? What do you have to contribute that you have not yet expressed? Great energy is the free flow of essential consumption and essential contribution.
Like many people at this time of year, I've resolved to work off the excess weight I gained over the holidays following the strategy of eating every bit of Christmas baking available. The excess sugar was not kind to me. I had a brief energy buzz and now the party is over.
And it's not just the Christmas baking party that's over. Many of us are anticipating a tough economy in the first half of the year. It's a good time to lean out and cut out some fat fiscally as well as physically. I'd argue that each'll be more successful if they are done together. There are ways to lose the surplus expenses, debts and pounds that work and ways that don’t.
Drastic short-term calorie and cost cutting is rarely sustainable.
Even Weight Watchers is out of the dieting business. Every person and business has an optimal metabolism that requires fuel in order to perform at it's best. Cutting consumption below this level only lowers the amount of energy available to do meaningful, value-creating work. The only calories or costs worth cutting are the ones we waste. Calorie (and cost) restriction does not work; more often than not the weight comes back and then some (95% of the time). Hormones, metabolism and emotional factors like financial stress play a large role. It's not just a matter of working out more and eating less.
Quality may be more important that just quantity.
One pound of fat is 3500 calories. A calorie is a unit of energy just as a dollar is. But some are worse than others. I used to love me a regular Quarter Pounder with cheese–a 500 calorie gut bomb. The last time I ate one I knew I was going to feel like shit right after. I ate the burger and promptly felt like shit. I also used to love eating the large orders of french fries, sausage egg and cheese McGriddles, baked apple pies (always two) and blueberry muffins, each about 500 calories.
Yesterday I spent an intense 75 minutes on my indoor bicycle trainer and burned about 587 calories. Training is not an excuse to eat poorly it's a way to boost performance. But if I do want to burn off some bloat, what's easier? Another intense 75 minute ride on the trainer or not eating a blueberry muffin?
High quality consumption fuels high quality contribution.
The Pareto principle captures this point quite nicely (80/20 rule). If I want a leaner body, 80% comes down to diet and 20% to exercise. There is more leverage on the food side than there is on exercise side. If a want a leaner business, 80% come down to service and 20% to budget cuts. There's more leverage on the service side. If it's true that 80% of my profit comes from 20% of my clients and 80% of my results come from 20% of my activities then I need only worry about doing my best work for my best clients. A healthy diet and exercise contribute to the capacity to create value and sustain cashflow. Deprivation is not a good way to lose weight, only a way to lose wealth.
January 18th is "National New Year's Resolution Abandonment Day". This is the day that most people run out of will power. A coach is like a boost in will power, providing you with the crucial support required to build healthy long-term habits. Reach out and contact us for a cup of tea and we can chat about what sort of value you want to contribute in 2019.