Book Review: The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

Interestingly, I was given this book as a wedding gift back in 2009 (make of that what you will) and it’s one of those reads I come back to again and again. It’s one of the books I refer back to as a foundation read for all things wellbeing-related.

The mantra I took away from it is actually in the sub-title – ‘Managing our ENERGY, no time, is the key to HIGH PERFORMANCE, HEALTH and HAPPINESS’. It’s not about the number of hours you work but your energy levels during those hours. I’ve never forgotten this since the first read and I talk to my clients about the same thing (on repeat). This has since been supplemented by thinking around attention management, giving a rounded approach to how we can better cope.

There’s so much stuff out there at the moment around productivity, time management and resilience to keep going. Rightly so. But, even if you manage your time well, you can struggle to stay full engaged and that can have a knock-on effect in your work and personal lives too.

Personally, I’ve always felt at times like this book felt a bit of a sales pitch for the authors’ consultancy services, but if you can put that to one side, there are some great ideas in here.

As with much of the research and learning around resilience and performance out there, the authors have worked with professional athletes focused on sustaining high levels of performance. The results of that experience are peppered throughout the book. 

Loehr and Schwartz offer up the idea of a ‘new paradigm’ which still stands the test of time for me and feels very relevant now, as we try to negotiate this ‘next normal’ we find ourselves in:

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I learned from this book that having a balanced life where rest and recovery are a focus and not just ‘keeping on’, make all the difference – we are not machines. As human beings, we need regular exercise, good sleep, healthy nutrition, a balanced and healthy emotional life and a strong sense of purpose for wellbeing and performance. 

This book explores where we might have gaps in our own lives and how we can get our own plan for more productive habits, like more and better sleep and fewer work-related activities together. My biggest takeaways?

  • “life is a series of sprints” instead of one long old marathon to the finish – that means engaging for periods of time then fully disengaging to renew (and that means full disengaging, not just hopping from one screen – my laptop - to another – my phone)

  • Physical energy is the basic source of fuel

  • Positive rituals (strong habits) are key to managing energy – they help us conserve energy (and over time can make us feel worse or actually weird when we don’t do them). And, having them can create space for creativity and spontaneity

In these increasingly chaotic times, our responses to an increasing number of demands has been to try to fit more in and work longer which has proven even more challenging with the backdrop of a pandemic – but time is a finite resource. But energy isn’t – if we manage it well, we can increase its capacity.

How would you feel if you worked fewer hours but had more energy and greater engagement when you were working those hours? Reading this book could help you do just that.