It is very easy to think how you make a difference to someone but it is great when you hear it directly from someone else.

I thought I would post a testimonial.  This is from someone I know as an acquaintance who works in corporate law.  He works pretty long hours which is the the people I want to help the most.

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What this book taught me is that my energy is a resource that I can harness to accomplish more. It is full of easy to implement suggestions that help you get better at being a master of your energy. And it makes it fun. You are harnessing strong forces in unfamiliar ways that really work.

The author eats his own Brussels sprouts. His book is written in a way that you get maximum benefits without using too much energy getting through it. Its focussed, and feels effortless, which is what a lot of the content of the book is on. I found myself whipping it out every time I had 5-10 minutes, because its broken down into digestable sections that you can start using there and then.

Where this book really helps is where you actually are in a high pressure situation with a lot on the line – I have tended to just survive deadlines until they were over and I could breathe again. For a recent major deadline I took on the book’s recommendations for thriving on less sleep with more to do, rather than suffering through it. I took on using and directing the energy that this big deadline was generating to my advantage. Whereas before, quite a lot of time would have gone on coping mechanisms – watching stuff on TV, a lie in here and there – using the techniques in this book I was better able to direct my energy where it was needed – at getting the job done. This meant I got the job done better in less time, and still had time to do other things as well. I never once went into running on empty mode during a two month intense stretch, a zone I would normally inhabit for at least a month!

There were a few key areas of this book that have made lasting difference.

BEING CONSCIOUS OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN MY BODY

The breathing exercises have really improved my energy levels at work. Breathing is something I tend to forget about when I am focussed on a very intellectual, detailed work (i.e. most of the time). The simple breathing exercises are helping me notice where my body is storing stress, and beginning to unlock it.

I got an important point about direction. The author advises going into the resistance – actually focussing on where I am storing stress, applying simple breathing and body awareness exercises. They actually generate a surprising amount of energy very quickly. It became fun to play with my `new power’, especially as its so different from my normal thinking strategies for being effective. It makes my office work more physical, connected, and satisfying. And it takes some practice.

SUPER SLEEP

The chapter on sleep was a revelation in 25 easy to read pages. Understanding better how sleep works has helped me to have an hour and half less sleep, but better sleep. I actually have more rather than less energy, even though I am sleeping fewer hours. And I get a lot done in those extra hours. Easy win.

THE POWER OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND

There are some good techniques that helped me notice the dance between the sensations in my body, like a heavy feeling behind my eyes, and my thoughts about that feeling. “I’m so tired. I have so much to do today. I’m going to be even more tired tomorrow. When is this going to end?” are some of my favourites. The techniques in the book helped me to break that cycle, so that I just dealt with what was actually happening in my body. I wasn’t wasting as much energy dealing with the thoughts about what was going on in my body.

There is a good chapter on the power of your thoughts and how, consciously and unconsciously, they shape our environment. The chatter generated by what the author calls the `monkey mind’ is not just a way of dealing with the situation, it shapes the situation.

The exercises helped me to notice when my grumpy monkey mind started to take over when I was making a cup of tea in the afternoon and wondering how it could all be done on time. (For those interested in excavating how your communication shapes your world and how you can harness it to get what you want from life, there are two excellent graduate courses offered by Landmark Education that provide in depth education and training on the power of speaking and listening to create and shape our environment – `Communication: Access to Power’ and `Communication: Power to Create’. I highly recommend them).

TIME MANAGEMENT IS ENERGY FLOW MANAGEMENT

I loved the way that the author dealt with time management. I have always seen time management as important, but quite hard work and an effort. But he takes a much more zen, fun approach to it.

The book really helped me to see it as energy flow management, rather than a time problem to solve. I have enjoyed using the techniques of creating a vision for what kind of day its going to be – e.g. today I am the glue that holds the team together – whatever happens, these guys are my team, I am going to make sure that they win, and we are going to win and have fun.

I also used the simple suggestions of blocking out time for areas, rather than having a very long amorphous list of stuff to get through. I now also make sure I plan to “eat a few frogs” every day. This has been far more pleasant than my habit of doing all the easy stuff, and then having to chew and crunch through 5 frogs one after another, in a single unpleasant and very long sitting.

I also love the author’s concept of a home run – using the last hour of the day to set up the next day, rather than my old approach of trying to start something new at the end of the day. This often had me leaving the office feeling stressed and incomplete, or staying for hours extra to make some decent headway on it. These things have made a big difference. They are now a valued part of my ritual for setting up and ending the day.

RECOMMENDATION

There is loads of juice in this book. Buy it. Read it. Do the exercises. Master yourself. Have more energy and enjoy your work more and get connected with your body and your breath and just how awesome you are.