Managing Emotional Energy for High Performance

 I want to top the upcoming exams bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘But the stress is not letting me study.’

 ‘Yes bhaiyya,’ said Rinku. ‘Is there a way to overcome emotional stress and engage fully?’

‘Let’s figure what works best for high performance,’ said Rakesh. ‘Emotions like fear, frustration, anger and sadness? Or enjoyment, pleasure, adventure, opportunity?’

‘No brainer bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘High energy positive states work best. Anxiety is just not allowing me to focus. How can I get out of this state?’

‘By flipping channels,’ smiled Rakesh. ‘Work-recovery is our mantra for maintaining high energy. So when you sense low energy emotions taking over, it means you overspent your emotional energy. Flip channels to recovery and renewal activities - walking, music, dancing, reading, yoga, meeting people – whatever is deeply enjoyable for you.  The key however is this – you have to make your renewal activities the priority.’

‘Bhaiyya, if renewal activities become priority what about our work?’ asked Rinku.

‘Your work performance improves with deeper emotional recovery activities,’ said Rakesh. ‘Giving recovery activities priority helps you derive a sense of balance, control, joy and satisfaction in your work. You perform better under pressure. Work becomes a celebration.’

‘Wow,’ said Rahul. ‘I thought such activities distracted me from work and avoided them.’

‘Too much or too less recovery causes an imbalance, so balance your work-recovery ratio,’ said Rakesh. ’45-60 minutes of focused work followed by 15-20 minutes of deep recovery activity is good balance. To increase emotional energy capacity, work on the ‘muscles’ that support our emotional energy frame - self-confidence, self-control, social skill, empathy, trust, patience etc. Push past existing limits in each area and then renew with recovery activity to expand emotional capacity.’

‘If we strengthen these areas we should be in good emotional space right bhaiyya?’ asked Rahul.

‘It helps to begin with,’ said Rakesh. ‘But remember, we operate in paradoxes. It’s not all black- white, good- bad. There’s a term ‘anacoluthia’, used by Stoic philosophers, which means that all virtues are entailed. There is no right virtue to choose over another, because they’re entailed and balance one another. Author Tony Schwartz in his TEDx talk says, honesty without compassion is cruelty – indicating that honesty works best when tempered with compassion. Or confidence without humility is arrogance, so temper confidence with humility for best results. We access optimum emotional energy when we embrace opposites and hold both, knowing both are OK. So hold opposites and don’t choose one over another to be fully engaged emotionally.’

‘Thanks bhaiyya,’ said Rinku. ‘I’ll work on making emotional recovery activities a priority and balancing my emotions.’

Pro Tip: To manage emotional energy for high performance, find and make energy recovery activities that are deeply enjoyable and fulfilling a priority. Practice holding opposite emotions and move freely between them to access optimum emotional energy for full engagement.

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