Keeping UP! -- The Four Kinds of Energy Every Board Needs

            Is your board running out of gas?

            Often, the key to a successful organization -- for-profit or non-profit -- is the energy of the board.   If you’re concerned that your board is low on “get-up-and-go,” check out this short blog post on the subject for the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Are the Energy Vampires Sucking Away Your Juice?

    Tune in to Peter Margaritas' video blog to hear our discussion about tips and tricks to boost your emotional and intellectual energy -- and fight off the energy vampires! See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucnfUqZyvK8&feature=youtu.be

What's a "Business Hour"?

           

             In the 21^st Century, energy is more important than time.  At least, that’s what I argue in my courses and my book, Getting UP! Supercharging Your Energy.  As proof of that concept, I offer you the “business hour.”

            After a recent business trip, I contacted Hilton Hotels about a possible problem with my bill.  In response, I got an email that promised, “We take your feedback very seriously and will do everything possible to resolve your concerns in a satisfactory manner as quickly as possible.”

            And then, after that hype, they added, “Please allow us 72 business hours to resolve this matter for you.” 

            Here’s the BIG question: does that mean three 24-hour business days or does that mean nine 8-hour hour business days (or up to 13 “calendar” days)? 

            Of course, I asked them in a return email what they were talking about. No response yet…that will probably take 72 business hours, too.

            The truth is, we really don’t care how long your process takes; we just want it done.  Now.  That takes energy. In the 20^th Century, you called somebody and they fixed the problem.   In the 21^st Century, we get “time excuses.”

            Here’s an even more ludicrous example from the same trip.  I made the grievous error of buying a snack on a United Airlines flight.  The attendant swiped my card but…no receipt.  I was told I could get that online.

            Well, after ransacking the United website, no luck. So I sent an email to their euphemistically-named “Customer Care Team” asking how to find my receipt.  They promised, “we will address your email and respond back to you shortly.”

            They then explain that “shortly” is “generally within 10 to 14 business days.” 

            It takes the “Customer Care Team” more than two weeks to find their way around their own website?  Of course, we know how long it should take The Friendly Skies to answer my question: less than five minutes. 

            But that’s five minutes of human energy. And by United’s careful calculus, their energy is much more important than my time. 

            As we used to say in geometry class: QED.

Life Imitates Long Distance Cycling

            PAC Tour is a great way to spend 18 days…if you’re planning to write a book on energy …because life imitates riding across the country.  Just ask Einstein, who knew a bit about energy.  He said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” And, on PAC Tour…

§  Each day brings its own challenges;

§  The external obstacles, like mountains and traffic, are unchanging and uncaring;

§  The internal obstacles are tougher: pain, exhaustion, anxiety, confusion, discouragement, irritation, distraction;

§  Sometimes, you ride with friends; sometimes, you must ride alone;

§  You must decide how to spend your energy; how to save it; how to recover it;

§  It’s a little dangerous;

§  Tomorrow, you ride again.

            At 66, Medicare card in my wallet, I became the oldest rider to complete this event since it began in 1995.  Some folks think it’s pretty impressive that an old fart like me could ride that long and hard.  In this book and my courses, I’m going to argue that it’s no big deal compared to the amazing things YOU could do with more energy.

            To learn how to do that, stay tuned or check out my website, http://www.MorePersonalEnergy.com.  Or, buy my book, Getting UP! Supercharging Your Energy.

Energy Lessons the of Long Road: The Challenge of Elite PAC

          

         The question “Who are you to write about energy?”  flicked through my mind as I stood in a San Diego motel parking lot in May 2015, working hard on Getting UP.  Fifteen other cycling lunatics and I were set to embark on Elite PAC Tour. 

            Humbly promoting itself as “The Toughest Two-Week Bicycle Tour in the World,”  Elite PAC is the brainchild of Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo, two former Race Across America champions and holders of coast-to-coast cycling records.  The pair’s company, PAC Tour, has shepherded more than 80 rides across America over three decades.

            Elite PAC is a 2,700-mile-plus dash from San Diego, California to Savannah, Georgia in just 18 days -- or an average of about 150 miles a day.  Designed for the strongest and most manic distance riders, it is not for the faint of heart.  Short of Race Across America itself, it is the ultimate test of a road bike rider’s cross-country energy and endurance.

            The United States is a big country, full of mountains, deserts, endless farms and un-remitting tar-and-chip-covered rough roads.  It demands UP over and over again.  To ride Elite PAC, I would have to work at Getting UP every time I got side-swiped by a speeding logging truck and in every pelting rain storm.  I had to Get UP to fight blast-furnace headwinds and to nurse my rickety knees over saw-tooth hills.

            To read how I did that, stay tuned.  Or, buy my book, Getting UP! Supercharging Your Energy.

My Getting UP! Energy “Chops”

Racing in Alaska

                    “Who are you to write about energy?”  would be a perfectly good question for you to ask. 

            I am not:

§  An Olympic gold medalist;

§  A coach of Olympic gold medalist;

§  A promoter who has hired a coach of an Olympic gold medalist to sell diet supplements, exercise equipment and yoga vacations.

            I am like you:

§  Not as young as I used to be;

§  Dealing with the stress of too much to do and too little time to do it;

§  Striving to bring balance to a demanding life and career.

            One difference between us is that I may have way more energy than you do.  And I’d like to tell you how you can get more energy yourself -- so you can do amazing things, better manage stress, and improve balance in your life. As I have told thousands of others in my energy seminars, you don’t have to be Einstein to figure this out. And you don’t have to buy anything.

            Except, of course, unless you want to buy my book, Getting UP! Supercharging Your Energy.

            Stay tuned to this blog and we’ll explore the amazing world of high energy!

Join Me on the Road to More Personal Energy!

            We suffer from the most widespread energy crisis in history.  It has nothing to do with oil, gas or solar power.  It’s…it’s…it’s hard to get up in the morning.

            Indeed, it’s hard to get up -- period -- for a lot of what we must do. We used to think we didn’t have enough time, but the ugly truth is we just don’t have enough energy.

            The good news is that we can get more energy.  The bad news is that the ways we get it are often expensive, dangerous and counterproductive.  There are better ways.

            This new blog is about a different approach toward getting the energy to be ready, willing and able to live the successful, balanced life you want.  I’ll include the many energy tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years as a ultra-distance bicycle racer, consultant, trainer and all-around energy geek.

            Many energy insights are from my book, GettingUP! Supercharging Your Energy, and from the scores of energy seminars I’ve taught.  You’ll learn why:

§  Managing your energy, not your time, is the secret;

§  Getting more energy isn’t about what you drink…it’s about what you think;

§  Driving a stake through the hearts of the vampires sucking your life away might help;

§  Supercharging your energy is inexpensive, simple and fun.