Book Review

The Power for Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz(New York:  The Free Press, 2003)

Interval training matters as much in life as it does insports.  This is the straightforward conviction contained in this book about finding fulfillment in life and leadership.  Our ability to expend and import energy in a such a way that we are neither sapped nor over-supplied is critical to maintaining balance in life. 

Starting with physical energy upon which emotional energy supports mental energy by which ultimate spiritual energy is imported and exerted, Loehr and Schwartz build a case for self-care I have not found in many other leadership books.  This is a great read.

As for me, I am putting the physical energy principles to work.  Eating smaller, regularly-interval-ed snacks throughout the day to keep my blood sugar and caloric energy count consistent (no more wild metabolic swings).  Additionally, taking time every 90 minutes or so for a walk outside or some stretching keeps my mind engaged and fresh—more elastic to the pressures of pastoring a congregation the size of Concordia, Kirkwood.

I’ll have more to say in weeks to come, but for now, go out and get the book…it’s quick and easily digestible with lots of stories to match the power of the ideas offered.