Making the Most of What You Have

By Mark A. Campbell, CSF-PREP, Guest Blogger

Editor’s Note:  Mark A. Campbell serves as a WTU Master Trainer/WTC Liaison.  He joined Comprehensive Soldier Fitness- Performance and Resilience Enhancement Program (CSF-PREP) in 2007, and is currently working toward his doctorate in Health Promotion andWellness. The expressed comments and views of guest bloggers do not reflect the views of WTC or the United States Army.

Have you ever been walking through an airport, remember that you have to make a call before you board the plane, and realize that your cell phone battery is almost dead? You rush to the nearest outlet and plug in long enough to make the call, until you can arrive at your destination and fully recharge the battery.

Our personal energy stores are not unlike this. Have you ever left work feeling like you do not have enough “left in the tank” to spend quality time with your Family? One of the biggest performance challenges that an individual can face is effectively managing his/her energy. Life does not stop, it does not slow down, it will not wait for you. It is important to know how to make the most of the energy you have and to understand how to refill your energy tank whenever possible. “Energy management” is a term used to describe the process in which a person uses deliberate strategies to leverage the body’s energy resources.

I don’t have to tell you anything about stress. We are all masters of it. By definition, stress is “anything that causes us to mobilize energy.” If you look at it in that way, there are countless examples of this happening each day.  Another good analogy would be that of an ATM machine. Imagine all day long you withdraw various increments of cash. If we only make small deposits from time to time, then we will never get ahead. One of the biggest misconceptions in our society is that “I’ll get enough sleep when I’m dead.” I think we all realize that there is a wall, and without the proper recovery, we will most definitely hit it hard.  There are many different techniques that an individual can use to deliberately manage energy. Here are a few:

1. Recovery Breathing: Slowing down our bodies and taking good, cleansing breathes can benefit us on multiple levels. Recovery breathing is a way to relax tense muscles, calm the mind, as well as deliver more oxygen throughout the body. This will also improve your memory and ability to think clearly.
2. Reinterpret what you are up against:  By looking at upcoming events in your life as “challenges” instead of “threats” we are less likely to unnecessarily mobilize large amounts of energy in the form of doubt, worry, and fear. By looking at an event as a challenge, then you can plan for all of the ways you can grow from the experience and be successful.
3. Control the Controllables: It is a common, human quality to focus on those things that we perceive as negative stressors, but have no control over (weather, traffic, other people, etc.). The only three things that we can ever truly control are what we think, what we say, and what we do. The next time you feel the negative effects of stress, look at what you can control in the situation. This will help to prioritize your stressors, and act on them accordingly.

It is important to have strategies in place for effectively managing your levels of energy. It will look a little differently for each of us, but the take-home message should be that stress happens. However, through deliberate recovery techniques we can minimize the negative effects. Our personal levels of energy are a scarce resource, and we should protect them in order to be at our best.