Tom Rath’s new book, Are You Fully Charged?, gives three keys to an energized life:
- Meaning: your work must be meaningful and your life cannot be just the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure. Research on happiness has shown this clearly enough that there’s no controversy left here.
- Interactions: apparently, people feel better if they have interactions with other people, no matter how introverted we may think we are.
- Energy: this may be cheating, since saying you must have energy to be energized sort of begs this question. The point Rath is making, though, is that caring for our physical health should be a priority. We have to Eat, Move, Sleep and maintain those positive health habits, or we face burnout and exhaustion.
There are no great big surprises here, though there are some interesting new research reports. I’m trying to have super positive interactions with everyone I meet, trying to make their lives better. I’m trying to have multiple happy interactions with my husband, too, because it turns our that it’s not the deep connections that energize us, but the nice little connections throughout the day.
I had a productive day today. My husband and I put together a key piece of furniture for the sewing room, which will be the next room on my list. I planted and weeded. I made a proper meal — salmon with grapefruit-avocado salsa and baby squash with corn, beans, and peppers. I made further progress on the sleeves of #1 son’s sweater. I used a mask for my face. I worked, but just for a couple of hours. Productive hours, though.
Now I’ll make sure to get to sleep early and will wake tomorrow and jump right into my healthy habits, keep my mind on the higher purpose in my work, and reach out to people in positive ways all day tomorrow. Oh, and make my bed.