Anese Cavanaugh of Dare To Engage, Inc., is a Certified Professional Coach with a focus in Leadership Development, Performance Improvement and Health and Productivity. She works with individuals and groups, privately and in organizations, to help them lead authentically and be their own best heroes in business and life. To learn more about her work with people, the DTE Programs and services, and for additional resources and tools, go to www.daretoengage.com where you can also sign up for a Free Report (also available in audio format), on “Three Key Strategies to Lead Your Energy and Create Results (in Business, in Life and in Leadership)”.
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Take time now to notice your personal energy. How are you feeling? Notice how present you feel in your body. Notice your posture, and whether or not you are tired. Just notice. Are you fuzzy? Are you clear? Are you joyful? Are you energized?
What impact does your physical and mental energy have on your ability to make decisions, get things done and engage with others? Does your energy and self-care make you feel like you are being your own hero, at work and at home? Does the way you care for yourself honor you and your work/life balance?
If you are taking fantastically great care of yourself, wonderful! How can you engage even more of your power source to create added vitality and presence in your life? Can you use your power source to create even stronger leadership and work/life balance? Here are six life coaching tips to engage your power source for more powerful living and energy leadership.
Life Coaching Tip #1: Breathe! How are you breathing? Do you take deep breaths and stay conscious in your breath? Or, is your breathing short and shallow? Breathe deeply, inhale and exhale. Not only does this put more fresh oxygen into your body, it also provides a way of keeping your mind present and focused.
Life Coaching Tip #2: Take a break! You need a break every 90-120 minutes throughout your day. Stop what you're doing, get up, move around and go get something to drink. Whatever you do, the point is to "disengage" from your activity for a short bit. Taking a break will help you sustain "full engagement" throughout the rest of your day.
Life Coaching Tip #3: Pull your shoulders back! This is a no slump zone! Pull those shoulders back, stand up or sit up straight, engage your core muscles (abdominal and low back muscles) and see what shifts for you from this posture.
Life Coaching Tip #4: You are what you eat! Remember this old saying? Well, it has interesting implications when it comes to leadership and engagement. Many studies link food to mood, disease, depression, fuzzy thinking, etc. I suspect you don’t need me to tell you that. Notice the way food impacts you. Do you feel energized and focused after a meal loaded with processed foods and junk? Probably not.
Make a shift in your diet by integrating more whole grains instead of refined carbohydrates, eating more fruits and vegetables instead of sweets, and opting for foods that are baked instead of fried. You get the picture. This is all stuff you know. You've probably heard it a thousand times. Will this information affect your work/life balance? Will you make a choice to take action and create a shift?
Life Coaching Tip #5: Hydrate! Living on coffee and sodas all day? Do you notice that your thinking is a bit slower? Got water? Drinking water is an undervalued source of physical energy renewal. Did you know that by the time you're thirsty, you are already dehydrated? Research has shown that when you dehydrate a muscle by as little as 3%, it loses 10% of its strength and 8% of its speed. Dehydration compromises concentration and coordination. Imagine the effect on energy leadership and thinking. Don’t let yourself get dehydrated. Drinking water at regular intervals throughout the day will serve performance in a range of important ways.*
Life Coaching Tip #6: Move your body! No simpler way to say it. I'm not even going to go into starting an exercise program. It's even simpler than that. Get up, move around, dance, stretch, whatever you want to do to move your body and get into action. Some of my energy leadership clients go into the bathroom during a break or before a meeting to dance in the stall to wake up and get present! Other clients have integrated "stretch breaks" into their days and meetings. Find something that will work for you and try it out. You'll be surprised.
Engage your power source with these quick and simple life coaching tips that you can work into your days. Just paying attention to these tips can create a shift, and taking action on even one of them can create ripple effects on the rest of your life. Decide to take action today, play with taking a stand for your self-care, give yourself a bit more focus and see what shows up.
NOTE: Always consult your physician, or the appropriate medical or health professional, before embarking on any kind of exercise or nutritional program.
(*Source on Hydration facts: "The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz – An excellent book by the way!)
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