3 Drivers of Performance: Part 1

Every leader must learn to control three things if they're going to be a long-term success. These are just decisions you make daily, time by time. They are in your complete control, and you must control them: your energy, your anxiety, and your attitude. This triumvirate of feelings and experiences governs the vast majority of our lives. It rules how we look at events, react to them, and focus on different events.

We are going to divide our discussion into three parts. In this article, we will discuss the energy we bring with us.

Energy

Energy is difficult to explain because there are so many different types of energy. There's physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy, creative energy. There are all sorts of energies, and depending on what kind of person you are, the energy you choose and use affects your outcomes the most. Energy can be depleting, or it can be invigorating. It can uplift, or in its absence, it can destroy. What type of energy? Do you bring a positive energy or a negative energy? Do you carry a confused energy into the room, into a relationship, into an event, into an object, into some aspect of your life? What is it that you bring? The energy you bring most affects your daily life and how you react.

Most of the time, when we think about energy, we think about physical energy. We think about that bouncing around. We all want the Red Bell, the caffeine, the vitamin-infused life. But we're only sometimes that way. Our physical energy is not always there, yet our mental energy can be overwhelming. Nobody could look at Stephen Hawking, sitting trapped in his body, unable to move, communicate as he wished, or get up and dance. And yet, the man had more mental energy than most of the country. His thought process was so engaged, and his positivity about what he was doing and what he could do, even in the state he was in, changed his life and academia for generations.

I also remember that, as a kid, I loved to watch NBA basketball. There was no better game to watch than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson—talk about two guys full of energy. But the man that I had the most respect for at the time was Larry Bird. Larry Bird was not at his prime, and he did not have the body he had when he was younger. He had given himself to the game, to his love of the game, and he threw himself into it.

I remember watching TV when Larry would have to come out of the game and lay down on the floor in pain. He was spent, exhausted, and in severe pain from everything he had subjected his body to over years of playing at a heightened level in the National Basketball League. And yet, the whistle would blow, he would come back out on the court, and his body would change.

Once again, he was moving, jumping, diving, throwing himself regardless of pain, how he felt, or his lack of energy; he was still involved. Because of that, he set a legacy for himself in basketball that was so strong that everyone knew who Larry Bird was. They knew he was never going to give up, he was going to play with heart and soul, and he was going to bring the energy.

You, too, have the power to control the energy you bring. When you wake up in the morning, are you looking forward to the day, or are you not? Do you consciously decide to bring the energy to the day you know you should have? You can actually decide today will be a good day by saying, "Today is going to be a good day," and act like it's a good day. If you wake up and you're hitting your snooze repeatedly, not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to face the day, not wanting to get up and bring it, you can change that with a simple decision. You don't have to run a 5k. You don't have to get up and exercise vigorously for 30 minutes in the morning. You don't have to dive into pools of cold water. You don't have to drink some strange smoothie drink or something green or orange, stick with water, or have a cup of coffee with butter. You don't have to do any of those things. No, you can decide. And with your decision comes a newfound level of energy.

Anyone can make this decision regardless of age, health, or circumstance.

You would be wrong if you believe every child has boundless energy. Just go to a local kids' sporting event. You will see some kids that are exhausted. They are breathing heavily. Their entire body slumps below the bench they're sitting on when they sit down. They don't want to go back in the game. Yet others are just as tired but are excited about playing. They're driven. They're competitive. They get up, they hit the field, and they move. They run to exhaustion. They jump, throw, catch, and do whatever they have to do for the love of the game, for the love of life. They have decided I'm going to enjoy playing this game. They bring the energy, and the energy is just there. The younger the player, the more likely they are to stay excited. To play to exhaustion. When they stop, they sleep.

The older we get, the more we lose that childlike faith that we can just do. So that we can decide, I will make this a good day. If you've ever had a child who does not want to go to school in the morning, Bryson, I'm talking to you. I'm talking about my own son. His mind can decide that he's not going to have a good day, and he's going to fulfill that promise. Or he can choose; I'm going to have a good day. I'm going to focus. I'm going to enjoy my friends. I will enjoy my time today, and he enjoys it, even as a child beginning to grasp this concept. As an adult, if you can learn this concept too, you can change your day.

Brendon Burchard, the author of Life's Golden Ticket, the Motivation Manifesto, and most recently, The High-Performance Habits, decides to have energy. If you've ever seen Brendon, whether on video or live, you will notice the boundless energy that he brings. It's exuding out of him. Brendon doesn't look like a high-performing professional athlete. He's not great in stature. Although in good shape, he's not covered with rippling muscles. But he brings boundless energy to whatever he does.

If you've ever listened to Brendon speak about energy, or if you've ever heard or read one of his books, you will know that he has set up a trigger in his own life to help him generate positive energy. Every time he walks through a door, in his head, he says to himself, "Let's bring the energy."

He describes it this way. You walk into a room, and there are two types of people. Those two types of people are, "Hey, I'm here," or they're, "Hey, there you are." It's a simple statement, but it is definitely two different types of energy. But when he walks into a room, he makes that decision. I'm going to bring the energy, and this is the energy I'm going to bring. Honestly, you bring energy with you, the same amount. It's either positive or negative.

Science tells us that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It just is. Energy, given the right amount of time, is substance. The energy we spend over time has substance in our lives, whether that's positive or negative energy. The best thing we have is this great power to decide what energy we will bring.

If you look at your life, business, and relationships, they mirror the energy you give out. You get back exactly what you give. In most circumstances, if you bring power, the power of positive energy, into your relationship with your spouse, your significant other, and your child, you will get back the same. If you give love, you'll get love. If you give time, get time. If you give understanding, you'll gain understanding. If you give strength, if you give positiveness, if you give joy, you will get the same in return.

Suppose you discover someone to whom you give out positive energy; all they give you is negative energy in return. In that case, those people aren't investing in you. You're investing a very significant resource in others. You're investing time and energy and should get back exactly what you give.?

This is an easy test to tell which employees should be on your team or not. What's the energy that they bring? Is it positive, or is it harmful? If you give them positive energy, do you get positive energy back? Are they accepting and returning the energy investment that you're making in them? If they're not, it becomes really simple to see whether they mesh with your culture, with your understanding, with you, and whether you will increase or decrease in positive energy.

In relationships, it's much the same. When you're dating, that should be when you find out if this person is worth investing this energy in. When I give them energy, will they give me back better energy? Suppose you can find that exceptional individual, the one that when you give out the negative energy, they can return positive. In that case, that's the person whose love overbounds. That's the person who will help you through those low times when you are not quite in control of what you're giving out. Those are the people that can be understanding, that can lift you up, that can change you, that can change your life.

Today, decide what type of energy you will bring and in what ways. Is it creative energy? Is it boundless enthusiasm? Is it extreme focus? You can decide. It's a state of mind. Tony Robbins is a great person to read and listen to regarding energy. If you've ever attended one of his events, you will be amazed by the amount of energy that this man brings to his presentation, to a roomful of people, and to the lives of the people he is attempting to impact. You're sitting in a room with him while he speaks for a day; you are exhausted. Yes, you have moved; yes, you have participated. You have yet to do half of what he's done. You are exhausted, and he is still bouncing. Now he's sweating and breathing, but he is still moving. He is putting energy into that room, and you can tell the energy is returning to him.

Tony Robbins focuses on one thing, much like Brendon Burchard did, that triggers him to make an intentional energy decision. Tony calls it a state. He finds a way, a trigger, that changes his state. With a snap of his fingers, with a clap of his hand, whatever it is, Tony can change his state. There's a pattern that he interrupts, a pattern that says, "We're not positive. We're negative. We're failing." And yet, with this trigger, he changes. Likewise, you need to make some decision points to remind you that you will bring positive energy to your life, the correct type of energy. You're going to bring it to those around you. You're going to have positive energy, and you're going to move in the direction that you want to move. It is your decision, after all.

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