Intensity > Energy!

OK.  Everybody's gotten down showing up right?  No?  Then back up and let's get that one down.  Dedication...."First you have to show up!"  Now that we've gotten that one out of the way, let's get back to Intensity and energy that we've been focusing on this week.  Sleep, exercise, healthy diet.  That's how you make sure you've got energy to get after it day in and day out.  I like coffee.  I used to like Red Bull and Mountain Dews.  All provide energy boosts, not really energy, and now doctors and nutrition experts are coming out with out these things aren't good for us.  I've pretty much given up sodas, but I still love my coffee.  The thing is, I don't depend on it.  I just like it.

The human body is like a big self-charging battery.  (You guys have all seen the Martix right?)  Kidding aside, it's just an easy way to think about what we're talking about today.  We're a big battery.  Batteries lose power with use, when left in the cold, when placed in water, etc.  The idea is that outside forces drain energy from a battery.  The same is the case for us, only the outside forces are things like stress, lack of sleep, hard work, etc.  Now, how do we recharge a battery (if it is rechargeable and not a throw away), you plug it in to a power source.  The strong power source (to a point) the quick the battery recharges, or...the better quality the battery the quicker it charges.  I know an iPhone battery lasts all day, but only takes 45 minutes or so to recharge.  What we need to do is to work to turn our bodies into quality batteries.

How do we do this?  Exercise, eating right, getting consistent sleep.  You know something funny?  This all works together.  If you can't sleep, rather than taking sleeping pills or using other artificial depressants, look at your diet.  What are you putting into your body?  Are you using a high quality "charge"?  Exercise.  When you exercise, you wear yourself out.  Don't most of you sleep better after a really active day.  Well, try that over an extended period.  I guarantee you that you'll find sleeping easier.  Now, I realize that some nights you've just got to much going through your brain and you sleep fitfully.  Don't let that force you out of your exercising routine.  Stay with it and you'll be right back on track and sleeping good.  Believe me, I did it in the most stressful of environments.  A doctor gave me a bottle of Ambien when I was overseas.  I took them for a month.  Got pretty dependent on them.  Realized what I was doing and made myself stop.  You know what?  I slept fine anyway.  I ate right, exercised every day, and got the proper amount of sleep.  No sleep problems.

What other benefits are there to making sure we recharge our bodies properly?  No illnesses.  Look around.   Who are the folks that are never out sick?  I bet you anything it's those folks that eat right, exercise regularly, and seen to handle stress the best.  Less illness.  Less injuries.  Take care of your body, the battery and you'll see what it does for you.

That's all for this week.  Feel free to post your own comments or ideas.  See you all next week.