| Hi Friend!
I hope you had a great weekend and you've already hit the ground running for your new week.
Daniel Tiger One of the things I do when it's Vivi and I, riding in the car is we listen to Daniel Tiger. So far as I know Daniel Tiger was the puppet from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood that became its own cartoon show on PBS. It seems like a safe thing to listen to in the car and every show has a moral and one of them that stood out to me, was, "think of what other people need too".
The episode I remember listening to was when, Daniel was in school and he used up all the glitter and the other kids were upset because there was none left.
Cost of Doing Whatever It Takes This resonated with me for a myriad of reasons, but the one reason that prompted me to write to you about it was managing your energy. I used to be a "do whatever it takes" person to get the job done, and its a great skill and attribute to have, develop and lean on when needed, but there's a cost that can sometimes affect other people.
That cost is energy. And a lack of energy can affect your mood, outlook, presence and experience to name a few. And when you're in a social setting the next day or after a prolonged period of time doing whatever it takes, you might not present your best self to the situation and/or you may need to rest causing you to miss out on experiences with your people.
Not presenting your best self to a situation is eyebrow raising because most people may only know you as your best, so anything else can be disappointing to them and you. Missing out on experiences because you need to catch up and rest is a tough, and sometimes necessary cost to pay so you can recover quicker and return to being your best self sooner, but it can also be disappointing for all if you miss out on experiences.
And what if you suck it up and show up anyways, with or without caffeine, you may be off a little or a lot. You may say or do things, you wouldn't normally say or do.
If you use caffeine to borrow energy from the future, you may act like you'd normally act or worse you may magnify how you feel, and say or do things you wouldn't normally say or do, but with more poignant emphasis.
Add alcohol and you might blow off steam a lot faster, but your guard may come down and your internal feelings, colored from both the pride of getting the job done and the drained feeling of being empty may reveal all kinds of unexpected emotions, words and actions.
Its a tricky balance. I was reminded of this because I needed to nap after multiple days of not getting enough rest over the last few weeks and I shut down during family time that everyone was looking forward too. Its a hard pill to swallow when there's anticipation and then daddy pony lets everyone down by needing a nap because he didn't manage his energy well enough leading up to family time.
Planning Ahead, Starting Early vs. Do Whatever It Takes
Left or right. This way or that way. Up or down. Proactive vs. Reactive Bit by bit vs. big chunks. Plan ahead vs. wait until the last minute. Start early vs. do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Which is better? The obvious answer would be to plan ahead and start early so there was no need to do whatever it takes, but what happens when life happens? The Red Sox told me to "never forget anything" in regards to road trips. I never forgot, but what if I did. I think you need both skills and both skills require practice and are opposite habits.
Practice bedtime routines daily vs. stay up late to get the job done. An interesting dichotomy. Deep thinking says if you start early enough and you do a little every day, you'll never need to do whatever it takes to get the job done. And its basically an unassailable thought process and its possible and its also a big ask. It requires you to plan for the unexpected, the interruption, the lost time to work and produce, the hiccups, sicknesses, the traffic, low motivation, etc...It really requires you to be your best self consistently and practice long term thinking while being present in the moment.
What's sustainable? I think moderation is key. Shoot for the stars and adjust your timeline as needed. Practice best case and leave room to take time off and live a little. We're not robots. We get one shot at life so let's also enjoy it.
Think of What Other People Need Too And if moderation is key, then practicing second thoughts of how does what you're doing affect others and thinking of what other people need too, even if its your own energy, is a good value to have.
How to put this into practice? Energy is something to be managed and considered. Plan ahead, plan for disruptions and distractions, start early and if needed, do whatever it takes.
Hopefully you never need to bring in the closer like Lebron James and do whatever it takes to win by playing every minute because your team isn't as good as your opponents, but if you need to, "talk about it", with your people, the people who may be affected by your doing whatever it takes, then do it. Say, "I'm going for it. I've got this going on and it's going to require these sacrifices and when its over I'm going to be exhausted and need to rest and then I want to celebrate and I want to celebrate with you." This alone can make it easier for all parties.
Thinking good things come from Pittsburgh,
Coach Mike
p.p.s. If you know a teacher, professor, HR or admin person at a school and/or college, that might be interested in our teacher appreciation promotion, please do an email intro.
p.p.p.s. Sat, June 9 is the next Personalized Treadmill Workout.
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