The Focus Cast
On The Focus Cast, our mission is to help you reduce distractions and increase focus so you can live a life with intention. We are both entrepreneurs and share our habits and tactics to increase focus so we can accomplish our goals.
The Focus Cast
#81 Energy Management & Focus
In today's episode, we dive into the topic of energy management—a vital skill for enhancing productivity and achieving goals. Many people constantly feel tired, but by effectively managing our physical, emotional, and mental energy, we can unlock higher levels of productivity, creativity, and overall well-being. Let's explore the importance of energy management and discover practical solutions to improve our energy levels.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro to Time Management & Focus
01:30 We Are Not Managing Time But Energy
02:50 The Energy Crisis w. Stats
19:00 What Are We Spending Our Energy On?
24:00 Find Your Energy Rhythm
35:00 ZFG Here
SHOW NOTES
The Energy Crisis:
Statistics reveal the widespread issue of depleted energy levels among individuals, impacting their performance and well-being:
A survey conducted by the Energy Project found that only 16% of employees feel energized and engaged throughout the day.
The National Safety Council estimates that fatigue costs employers $136 billion annually in lost productivity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over one-third of adults in the United States are sleep deprived, leading to decreased energy levels and productivity, along with increased health risks.
A survey by Monster shows that 71% of workers feel tired at work, and 31% admit to falling asleep on the job.
According to the Harvard Business Review, employees who take breaks throughout the day exhibit higher productivity and energy levels compared to those who work nonstop.
The Solution: Energy Management Strategies:
To combat low energy levels and enhance focus, consider implementing the following strategies:
Understand Your Energy Rhythms:
Identify your personal energy patterns by recognizing the times of day when you feel most alert and focused versus when you experience slumps. Schedule demanding tasks during peak energy periods and reserve low-energy times for rest or less demanding activities.
Engage in Energy Renewal Activities:
Replenish your energy reserves through activities such as regular exercise, meditation, spending time in nature, or engaging in hobbies you enjoy. These practices help rejuvenate both the body and mind.
Break Goals into Manageable Tasks:
Divide your goals into smaller, manageable tasks to prevent overwhelm. By focusing on one task at a time, you can maintain your energy and motivation throughout the process.
Conclusion:
Energy management is key to boosting productivity, focus, and overall well-being. By understanding your energy rhythms, engaging in energy renewal activities, breaking goals into manageable tasks, and prioritizing sleep and self-care, you can optimize your energy levels and achieve greater success in your personal and professional pursuits. Embrace the power of energy management and unlock your full potential.
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You ever feel like we're running out of time?
Speaker 2:Some people probably. Do
Speaker 1:You ever feel like you don't have enough time?
Speaker 2:Yeah . Once in a while .
Speaker 1:Yeah. You know what's interesting?
Speaker 2:What's that? You always have the same amount of time no matter what. Yeah. So how are you actually running out? Well,
Speaker 1:It's interesting because , uh, the people that we admire have the same amount of time we have.
Speaker 2:Mm . So how do they get more done, bro?
Speaker 1:You know what? I think it has absolutely nothing to do with time.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:I do. You know what? I think it
Speaker 2:Is what you got,
Speaker 1:How they manage their energy.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. We all have the same 24 hour day.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Sun comes up, sun goes down,
Speaker 2:And we're not fifth dimensional beings.
Speaker 1:Some people have energy
Speaker 2:And they're managing it properly.
Speaker 1:Some people are tired.
Speaker 2:I think , uh, energy management is probably a crucial skill.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think it might be one of the most important components to success.
Speaker 2:I think we should talk about it.
Speaker 1:Let's dig in.
Speaker 2:I'm Jonathan Noel . And I'm Brian Noel .
Speaker 1:This is
Speaker 2:The focus cast
Speaker 1:Where we remove distractions,
Speaker 2:Increase focus,
Speaker 1:So we can live a life with intentions, intention . So let's get focused as how do we get focused, bro?
Speaker 2:All right . We were talking about this in the intro. Yep . You only have 24 hours. Yeah . You don't make time. Nope. I mean, you can't create time.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You stop doing something to do something else. Right.
Speaker 2:So what are we really managing our energy?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And how we use it and what we put it towards.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Because, and obviously we'll get into some details here, but have you ever realized that if you don't want to do something, it takes you longer than if you really wanna do it?
Speaker 2:Mm . Yeah. Because you go back and forth.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Absolutely. Happens to me all the time.
Speaker 1:So in that crazy, that just based on your attitude or mentality towards something determines how long it takes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So,
Speaker 2:So manage that energy.
Speaker 1:Manage that energy.
Speaker 2:You gotta have a mental positive energy <laugh> . Yeah. To manage your physical energy. That's right. You gotta align that. Mental, physical, spiritual. Yeah . All your energies. I
Speaker 1:Feel like if we manage our energy, we maximize our time.
Speaker 2:Mm . So quit wasting time
Speaker 1:On things that are low energy for you,
Speaker 2:Bro. Energy management, <laugh>, what is it? What is it? The practice of consciously allocating and replenishing your physical, emotional, and mental energy to achieve your goals.
Speaker 1:Ooh . Replenishing. How often do we think about , um, someone in the context of like employees, it's like, you gotta work 40 hours a week. You gotta do this, you gotta do this. How often are we thinking about, Hey, what are you doing to replenish your energy? Mm .
Speaker 2:Man.
Speaker 1:I don't think anyone talks. I've never heard
Speaker 2:Anyone . I've never heard anyone talk about that at a business. Ever. Yeah. Like I don't really, I mean, never say never. Right. I don't live like that, but , uh, I don't see myself managing an office full of people. Yeah. You know, some business where we have like an office, but , uh, if I did, yeah. I would probably have something like this. Management replenishment. Lunches. You go outside, go on a walk. Yeah. You all the meetings would be walking.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:No matter what. And if it's not storming outside, you go outside for a little bit. Get some fresh air. Yeah. It's little things to replenish your energy throughout the day.
Speaker 1:Wouldn't it be crazy and amazing if you got an email that said, bring an extra pair of clothes. Cuz today for an hour we're gonna be playing in the rain.
Speaker 2:Well , not in corporate America. <laugh>,
Speaker 1:<laugh> . So it's important because our energy levels directly impact our productivity, creativity, and overall wellbeing. When we manage our energy efficiently, we can get more done in less time reduced stress and feel more fulfilled.
Speaker 2:Right. Makes sense.
Speaker 1:So wait a minute, if we appropriately manage our energy, we can get more done.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we can be happier and feel better.
Speaker 2:Sounds like a win-win. That seems
Speaker 1:Completely opposite of the workaholic.
Speaker 2:That's a focus cast win right there. It's a
Speaker 1:Focus cast win.
Speaker 2:Yeah. The workaholic. I mean, we kind of go back and forth on this, right? Yeah. Like if it's your own business, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. It's a hundred hour weeks to get it off the ground. Yeah. And you know, you've got a vision in mind and maybe you thrive in that. Maybe you thrive Yeah . In that space.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But if you're working for someone else, unless you really love it, you know, that's just not me. Yeah. I'm not killing myself for other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, so. Yeah. Yeah . I'm trying to , I'm not gonna , my energy management is not gonna be a hundred percent allocated <laugh> in a space I don't care about. Yeah . You know? Well ,
Speaker 1:Even in that context, it's like if you're spending a hundred hours a week doing things Yeah . And none of those hours are spent replenishing your energy, how effective are your a hundred hours?
Speaker 2:That's a good question.
Speaker 1:Good question. What if the , the , there's, we talked about this on one episode, I don't remember, but there's the return on energy, right? Yeah. And even every single day, just like a motor needs new gas, like , um, if you really passed 50 hours, you might just be doing more damage and slowing your business down.
Speaker 2:Yeah. True.
Speaker 1:So maybe working a hundred hours a week is actually making it worse.
Speaker 2:Those are all things you have to ask yourself in that moment and be like , what is this actually accomplishing? Right. Is my energy actually working here? Yeah. I feel like when I'm, when I see these high level people Right. They've built in a system to replenish the energy. Yeah. You know, they've built it into the daily practices. Yeah . You know, so it seems like how the are they doing all this? Yeah . This doesn't even seem possible, but it's habits with good sleep. Yep . You know, and super set boundaries around that. Yep . Exercise, meditation, whatever it is. N sdr. Yeah . Non sleep, deep breaths , those kind of things. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and taking moments
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 2:To get it back. Healthy diet. Because if you really wanna function at that super high level,
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 2:You know, you gotta replenish the energy.
Speaker 1:Have you ever noticed that our liberal media, when there's a liberal president never brings up vacation, but when it's a conservative president, all they do is talk about how that president's on vacation all the time. <laugh> , all presidents take vacations. Yeah. But we only hear about it when it's Oh yeah, for sure . The opposing side , but still like,
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, that's the news pretty much. Yeah . In a nutshell, the guy
Speaker 1:Like,
Speaker 2:I , did you see what the other guy did ?
Speaker 1:I don't want my , don't want a president, but whatever. I don't, whatever. I don't think really think they do much anyway. But , uh, a physician, I don't want someone who's practicing surgery. I don't want my surgery to be the last of a three 12 hour shift. <laugh>,
Speaker 2:That's a good point. Brian
Speaker 1:Probably don't wanna be the first either. I I want it to really be like number six in day one. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And just seeing how I feel with my energy levels. I feel like I would want surgery like a couple of hours after they had breakfast, if they eat breakfast, but before lunch. Cuz that's when I'm the most Oh yeah. Because that's when it feels like Definitely not after lunch. I wouldn't want surgery right after lunch.
Speaker 1:All that brain, all that blood's in their belly. Yeah . And not
Speaker 2:Their brain. And definitely not at the end of the day. I
Speaker 1:Wonder if anyone's done studies like that. It's gotta be,
Speaker 2:Gotta be. It's gotta be
Speaker 1:Like surgery, energy levels, food intake, all that stuff.
Speaker 2:It's gotta be, I think I , I was reading about a study somewhere. It was something to do with like parole and you're , it was something like you're less or more likely for them to approve the parole or whatever. Oh . Depending on what part of day it was and when the person had eaten.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's like when they're , when they're grumpy or whatever,
Speaker 1:They don't approve parole
Speaker 2:<laugh>. So it's like, these are things you have to think about. When I think about like, if I'm getting something done, like even if you're getting like dental work done,
Speaker 1:Bro. It's an interesting point because the more energy we have, typically we're more empathetic. The less energy we have, the more apathetic
Speaker 2:We are . Ab Absolutely. So like,
Speaker 1:your parole is like everyone passed three Yeah . Is like,
Speaker 2:No,
Speaker 1:You. No . But then towards the end of the day when they're just ready to go home, it's just like, I don't even wanna read this. Yes,
Speaker 2:Yes. Could be <laugh> . Yeah. So for things like, like when I was getting like a couple of , uh, fillings, I always schedule 'em for 10 o'clock in the morning every time. Wow. Because I feel like that's the perfect dude. It's a couple hours before lunch. You're not super hungry. Yeah. You're not sluggish from breakfast. You're focused, but you're not wired from the coffee. I like 10:00 AM Oh man . 10:00 AM is where I like to <laugh>.
Speaker 1:That is like pro tip, like high brain , smart brain move, like meetings with the attorneys. Yeah. Do you want to pay the hourly rate with your attorneys when they're just tired and kind of jumbled? No. Can't remember what client they're talking to. Or do you wanna get 'em at 10:00 AM when they're like
Speaker 2:Doubted? Obviously you don't know their habits. If they woke up at five and they like did a workout. That's true. You know , they , their lunch, they might be getting really hungry by 10 o'clock. Yeah . But in as a general rule, I like, I like 10:00 AM if I think for most people it's , it's a nice sweet spot. Yeah. Where you're not thinking about lunch, you're not starving. Right. And, but you're not sluggish from breakfast,
Speaker 1:Bro. So that's on every call for a new relationship is like , uh, yeah, yeah. Let's schedule a meeting. Hey, when do you eat breakfast? Uh , you know, usually eat breakfast before I go. When do you eat lunch? Uh , you know, 12, late lunch, one o'clock.
Speaker 2:Some people are one o'clock, some people are two o'clock people
Speaker 1:Or 11 o'clock or 11 5:00 AM or they don't eat breakfast at all. There you go. That's the move.
Speaker 2:But I , I never schedule , like, at the end of the day, it's the , I feel like that's just the worst time to do anything. That's
Speaker 1:A focus, cast hack,
Speaker 2:Focus
Speaker 1:Hack. Intentionally scheduling all meetings with ,
Speaker 2:Uh, and someone else can do the more research and figure out what the times are. And it probably changes per industry. I mean, like in healthcare Yeah . The shifts are like what, 12 hour shifts? Yeah. So it's a little different. Yeah. But for me, I just don't wanna catch someone at the end of something because I know how I am at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:You know, when I was doing like the hail gig? Yeah . The insurance stuff. Someone comes to you with their problems that they're lying about trying to scam the insurance. It's five o'clock, you know, and you're just looking at 'em and you're like, I'm not approving it . Like yeah , I'm not , you know, like the empathy's gone, it's
Speaker 1:Gone.
Speaker 2:You know, like, quit lying to me. I'm not, I'm not giving you any of this stuff you're asking me for
Speaker 1:<laugh> .
Speaker 2:But if they're really nice and it's in the morning, yeah. I might be like, you know what? I know this person's lying. They're , they're , they're tweaking the truth a little bit. I can tell you know that this wasn't related to the storm, but I'll give it to 'em
Speaker 1:<laugh>
Speaker 2:Anyway .
Speaker 1:Did you just indict yourself?
Speaker 2:But how , how is anyone gonna prove anything? You know how many estimates I've written? Thousands
Speaker 1:<laugh> . Oh, that's crazy. Um , alright , so people are lacking energy. Yeah. So a survey conducted by the energy project Wow. Found that only 16% of employees feel energized and engaged throughout the day. 16% <laugh> . Wow. You know, it's funny, I read in the book of CEO excellence or whatever, I don't remember they did a big study, but it , it found that like less than 20% of your employees are actually like, making the thing move. So it's probably the ones that just have energy.
Speaker 2:Yeah. What
Speaker 1:Would happen if a Fortune 500 company intentionally focused on raising that 16% to like 35%? It'd probably take over the world. It'd probably be world domination.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I , I've never worked for a big company.
Speaker 1:Yeah ,
Speaker 2:I have . So , but I feel like the, the appeal for a lot of people is like the benefits. Yeah. And then if it's the company's big enough, you can kind of hide a little bit. Yeah. You know, you can kinda Oh yeah. You know, you can hide. Yeah. You know, if you're not doing, who's gonna notice? Right.
Speaker 1:You
Speaker 2:Know, so I'm sure that's an appeal for some people. Yeah . Um, but yeah. Can you imagine like, what if your business had like mandatory, not mandatory, but sig you know, like if it's a cultural thing Yeah . In the office, people do it. If everyone goes on a walk at lunch,
Speaker 1:Man,
Speaker 2:You know, makes , and that increases product productivity. I mean, once you start getting into big numbers, like 5 billion in revenue, billions of dollars in revenue, then every percentage it turns into a huge amount of money. Yeah. So if you increase productivity, even 5%.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Like
Speaker 2:If a , if a walk at lunch, if you get a bunch of people in the office, not all of 'em are gonna do it, but 60, 70%. Yeah. You know, productivity goes up.
Speaker 1:Gosh. 5%.
Speaker 2:Yeah. 5%. I mean, five percent's not a lot of money when you're only making $50,000 a year. But if it's a billion dollar company, every percentage becomes a big percentage.
Speaker 1:Right. You know, and i f it's an evil corporation, we ask that you not do these things < laugh> c uz then you'll accelerate the evil you ensue on the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like. Very true. All of a sudden everything we eat causes cancer immediately. It's like, God, they must have got really efficient at , uh, craft , craft really intensified their Yeah.
Speaker 2:You , you , uh, you go to Monsanto, right? Yeah. And you walk in the office and it's like everyone's happy and they're going on walks and they've got like massage table
Speaker 1:Tables and you're like , you can text your wife and be like, we're <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Oh . But anyway, so this is another study, according to this is a study from the National Safety Council. Fatigue cost employers an estimated 136 billion annually in health related Oh my lost productivity.
Speaker 1:Wow. 136 billion .
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just cuz Fatigue.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So , yeah. I mean, I don't know . It's different. I feel like it's different in other parts of the world. Like, I was flying, I had an international flight. I was sitting next to these two Swedish dudes for like, whatever, a 10 hour flight, whatever it was. And you know, I'm just talking to these guys, you know, and in Sweden they have six weeks mandatory vacation from all employers. Six weeks. So they go on trips every year. I mean, how, how cool is that? That it , and that's a cultural thing. Like Yeah . People do that. Yeah. All the Swedes, not all of 'em , but a lot of 'em travel. Yeah. They take their six weeks, you know, and these guys were going to Vegas or something or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But imagine doing that. I mean, you've been in the workforce force for 30 years and you've traveled the world by then.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know? Wow. So , uh, but it's just a different culture. It's like they don't work to live or they don't live to work. Yeah. They work to live.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And , uh, France, they're rioting right now because the , uh, president wants to move their retirement age from 55 to 54
Speaker 2:To 50 56 . We went up two years and everyone's freaking out rioting. Gosh. And then in America, you know,
Speaker 1:See, it's funny because like, you know, we're raised in America to like, you know, really look down on those countries, like taxes are too high. You know, there's so many regulations and all that kind of stuff. And we look down on them .
Speaker 2:Yeah . And then in France they try and raise their retirement rate by two years. And there's riots. Right. But in America, if in certain counties you can't collect rainwater, <laugh> , you know, you can't have chickens. You know, like things that are so absurd.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So absurd things that are so ridiculous. Yeah . That if this was like 300 years ago, I think people would just burn the capital down. Oh
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it wouldn't be a political, like, look at these extremists, but it's like, no, look at this oppression. Yeah. Look at what you're doing to everyone. Absolute
Speaker 1:Oppression.
Speaker 2:But it , the oppression is normalized.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It really is.
Speaker 2:That's a whole nother thing.
Speaker 1:Well, and it's like, back to the tax conversation. This is , uh, energy management <laugh> . Right?
Speaker 2:Oops . Yeah. We're getting all we're
Speaker 1:No, this is so good because like, you know, it , it goes back to our mentality and what we think. Right. So we're like, you know, they're bad because they pay 50% in taxes. Yeah. But if , uh, they also have healthcare and education's paid for, so if you look at what we pay in taxes, which I'm sorry. If anyone makes above, I think it's four 50 a year. Yeah. You're in the highest tax bracket, whatever it is. But , um, you're paying, what is it, 37%?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Federal. That's not far from 50. Well, well
Speaker 1:Here's the difference. That's federal. Then there's state, then there's ad valorem, your car tax, your county tax, your school tax.
Speaker 2:Yeah. They just hid the taxes .
Speaker 1:Your income tax.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Your death
Speaker 2:Tax, everything you buy.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Every , everything is taxed. So like, like they ran the calculations and we end up paying a lot anyway. Um, and then if you include the fact that we pay for our own healthcare , which again, pros and cons , um, government healthcare is great. If it's good, if it's healthcare , then it's bad. But anyway , um, so anyway, energy management, like we're doing all these things. Right. But like, they have a culture of, you know, no, we're not gonna work 80 hours a week. Like it's a law <laugh> . Yeah . It's a law because it's cultural. So it's like
Speaker 2:Yeah. Be Yeah. You if you could, I don't think people really understand how much power they have. Yeah. There's 400 th thou 400 million people in America. Yeah. Okay. And I understand you've got kids and you've got things you have to worry about and yada yada, yada. But if enough people said, this, we're not doing it, things change immediately.
Speaker 1:Immediately.
Speaker 2:Yeah. If you have enough people. Yeah . You know,
Speaker 1:Did you see the farmers where
Speaker 2:They were spraying the,
Speaker 1:They were spraying man manure. The manure on the agricultural
Speaker 2:Back in France. Back
Speaker 1:In France.
Speaker 2:They know how to do it man. Dude, they know how to riot . I think I probably should have been French. Yeah,
Speaker 1:Man, that's, that's badass. They were , they were the farmers. So the farmers sit there and spray manure all over the agency . Gosh . Agriculture.
Speaker 2:Gosh . I know. It's amazing. We talk
Speaker 1:About some Anyway.
Speaker 2:That's awesome .
Speaker 1:I know we don't do here.
Speaker 2:Oh, in America. What , what do people, oh my gosh. Don't even get me started. Yeah. Anyway, that's a whole nother thing .
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's, it's , uh, um, it's like, I'm trying to loosely pull it back, but like , um, the reason I love this is because what are we spending our energy on? Well, we spend a lot of our energy, like thinking about, like, we're on social, we're doing all this stuff , and we're like, we're spending so much energy mentally on all these things.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But
Speaker 1:What's the result? We're getting
Speaker 2:Nothing.
Speaker 1:Yeah . So anyway, the CDC and prevention estimates that over one third of adults in the United States are sleep deprived, which can lead to decreased energy levels, decreased productivity, and increased health risk.
Speaker 2:Yep . People
Speaker 1:Don't sleep well.
Speaker 2:Nope. And then , uh, got another stat here. According to a survey , by survey by Monster, 71% of workers say they feel tired at work and 31% say they have fallen asleep on the job.
Speaker 1:Is that Monster Energy drink that they fall ? Did they drink one in the morning and then they crashed after that? Caffeine crashed.
Speaker 2:Yeah . Who knows? Man, I've never had one. So haven't , that's not my cup of tea.
Speaker 1:I think monster's a job. This is a job thing. I think , um, 31% falling asleep on the job. But you know what, at the end of the day , um, if I'm tired, I'll take a 15 minute nap during the day. I did that when I was a W2 employee. Like, yeah. If you want me to be product productive for the , the last three hours of the day, I can either not go to sleep and then just be miserable for three hours and work slow and probably screw some up. Yeah. Or I can take an 18 minute nap, which by the way, an 18 minute nap is the optimal nap time. It's not too long. Right.
Speaker 2:But how long does it take you to fall asleep? Is it 18 minutes of sleep, or are you set it for 18 minutes and you're really only sleeping for about
Speaker 1:I would 15 , set my timer for 25 minutes and it would take me about four to five minutes. And then I would take about a anywhere between a 13 minute to 18 minute nap. And then I would wake up and I would crush that last two to three hours.
Speaker 2:Nice, bro.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Love it.
Speaker 1:Anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah .
Speaker 1:Oh mine. According to the study of Harvard Business Review, employees who take breaks throughout the day are more productive and have more energy than those who work nonstop. Mm . It turns out workaholic. It's just not being a workaholic. It's just not productive,
Speaker 2:Bro. What's the culture in our, in our workspace , uh, between us two <laugh> ?
Speaker 1:It's, it's , uh, pretty feely right now, man. If we feel like taking a walk, we take a walk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:If we feel like doing 20 burpees, we do 20 burpees.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I know it , it's just listen to your body. Yeah. When I'm sitting there. So here's what, usually when I know when I'm sitting there and I'm trying to do something and it's not working, and I'm just like, this is , then I'm getting really off and I'm like, I just need to go on a walk. Yeah. So there's a lot of problems that feel like impossible. You go take a walk, you come back and you're like, oh, well that's not a big deal.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Or it's just like it resolved itself.
Speaker 2:Same thing happened while I was trying to put my bike back together. Yeah. You know, it was the complicated linkage, you know? Yeah . Full suspension bike. If anyone cares, <laugh> . I just could not get these things in with the spacers. Yeah. And I'm freaking out. I was like, you know, I just need to take a break. I came back and I did it after the break. I tr after trying it for an hour, I took a break, came back and did it in five minutes. <laugh>. Right. Yeah. So that's just life. That's life. You just have to be smart enough to realize I need a , I need a walk. I need a little, yeah . I need a fiber .
Speaker 1:And there's prep
Speaker 2:And that's , that's part of energy management.
Speaker 1:Energy management. So
Speaker 2:You can kill yourself doing some for two hours or you take a five minute walk, you come back and it takes you 20 minutes. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And back to it said you feel better. So like Yeah. Not only did you get it done, so you feel accomplished. Yeah. You took a walk.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Man. It's , uh, it's , it's proactive and reactive. Energy manage . It's being proactive by saying, when I complete this task or this block of task , I will take a walk. Yeah . And then it's being reactive to if you're in a moment to where you can't figure something out Yeah . Or you are. So you want to throw the computer screen across the room and , and drop , kick someone in the throat. Yeah. You take a walk. So it's being proactive and just listening to your
Speaker 2:Body. And I find for me, and I'm sure it's most people Yeah . When you take that walk, you come back all of a sudden it's so much easier to solve this problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know,
Speaker 1:I think I wanna keep an energy log.
Speaker 2:Ooh , energy log .
Speaker 1:Yeah. Like on a scale of one to 10, high energy, 10 low energy, one and every hour. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> just put in where I feel and then, and then be able to look back and see why
Speaker 2:That's smart.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So,
Speaker 1:Solutions.
Speaker 2:Solutions, bro. So one key strategy. Yeah. All right . To identify your personal open . Huh?
Speaker 1:Open this door. One key strategy. Mm . Sorry. It was dad joke. My bad. Interrupted you with a bad joke.
Speaker 2:I just, I was so focused to, just so you know, it's funny. Brian just mentioned the energy logs. Yeah . So first bullet point under solutions here is to find your personal energy rhythms. Ooh . Ooh . Yeah. What's your energy rhythm?
Speaker 1:Very productive during the day, in the morning.
Speaker 2:Everyone has times when they're more naturally , uh, more alert focused. And times when we're more sluggish. We're talking about earlier. Yeah . I don't wanna get surgery , uh, when someone's sluggish. Yeah . You know?
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 2:When they're all at the end of the 12 hour shift. Yeah . I don't wanna be the last one on the, on the list.
Speaker 1:And there's different, the energy levels for different types of things. And we talked about that. Yeah. The difference between grind task and creative task . So like, if I'm mildly tired , um, but not like too sleepy, like when I'm kind of like , um, I got all my restlessness out, that's when I like to focus on creative task when I'm just like high energy and like, that's when I just wanna like crush everything I have to get done. I just crush it thin and then go take a walk, rest a little bit, whatever. And then when I , I've got all the jitters out , um, all the manic ness out
Speaker 2:Right. For you manic people out there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's when I can just slide right into that creative focus. I think
Speaker 2:The real thing we're looking at here is personal. Yeah . Energy rhythms. Not the energy rhythms that you read in some book. Yeah . You know, we're like, this guy makes a hundred million dollars a year. I'm gonna do, I'm gonna live my life Exactly like him. Yeah. And then you're like, okay, I don't wanna wake up at 4:00 AM and be miserable and hate myself <laugh> . So, and all this, all this takes time.
Speaker 1:It takes time
Speaker 2:To find your
Speaker 1:And it evolves.
Speaker 2:And it evolves.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Hey, you gotta be flexible, right? You got to be , you gotta be agile.
Speaker 1:Agile. So by paying attention to these rhythms, you can schedule your most demanding tasks during your peak energy times and reserve low energy periods for the rest. And less demeaning activities.
Speaker 2:Demanding. But yeah. If you're doing demeaning activities,
Speaker 1:<laugh> Yeah . Work , do demeaning activities. What kinda
Speaker 2:Work version , what kind of work are you doing, bro? <laugh> .
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Um, and obviously we talked about this. You wanna practice , uh, energy renewal activities.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So nature, we talked about grounding. We talked about how it's scientifically proven that the trees and plants give out energy, walking barefoot on the ground, recharges you talking to people. Yeah . Um , going and meeting someone that you've never met before, going to a cafe and seeing the life, whatever it is, things
Speaker 2:That , whatever you're , some people love the New York busy streets walking around. Yeah. You know, and if you thrive on that, hey, go
Speaker 1:Take a
Speaker 2:Walk. Go take a walk and like see the streets. Yeah. You know? And then if you're a nature person, absolutely. Yeah. You know , it's, everyone gets their thing from different sources. Yeah. So it's just finding your, your thing.
Speaker 1:Finding the thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. When I was looking up, obviously all the basic stuff came up that we talk about every time. Exercise, meditation. Yeah. And then , uh, breaking down your goals into smaller tasks was another one. So it's
Speaker 1:Oh , oh , that's good. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, we've all, I think everyone has like, if you're trying to accomplish a lot and it's all floating in your head Yeah. It drives you crazy. Yeah. It feels I impossible. Yeah. And then you finally dissect it, break it down. You look at the individual parts and you're like, oh. That's not that big a deal. Yeah. Just one little thing
Speaker 1:And it and , and energy accomplishing something like , um, my buddy gives you energy. Yeah. My buddy Chad just said this at lunch yesterday. He said, when you don't accomplish something, the mood is totally different when you get home, when you finished a project versus when it's still open and you go home. Right? Yeah . So breaking those tasks down into like bite-size pieces and then you snowball. It's like, yes, I got it done. Yes, I got that done. Yes, I got that done. And then you can sit back and be like, I got 40% of this project done today.
Speaker 2:You can get little wins. You get little dubs throughout the
Speaker 1:Day. Little dubs, man. Little double. Do you
Speaker 2:<laugh>. That's what life's supposed to be. It really is . You gotta be , you gotta stack those Ws, man. You
Speaker 1:right.
Speaker 2:Stack those wins up
Speaker 1:Double , do you ?
Speaker 2:Hey, I stack more wins by dissecting it into little pieces.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:Get outta bed win . Just kidding.
Speaker 1:My steak is not in the shape of a w
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:My little cereals are little ws <laugh> . One spoon at a time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I'm not, I'm not putting that whole steak in my mouth at one time. No,
Speaker 2:You gotta , you gotta take bites. That's
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Here we go, bro.
Speaker 1:Could you imagine little, little filet ws.
Speaker 2:It just seems like a too much time to take on a cutting up a steak in the
Speaker 1:Well, you wouldn't do that. You're the, you're the one that's winning. Someone else does that for you,
Speaker 2:<laugh> . Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Absolutely. <laugh> . That's winning right there.
Speaker 1:I like how you went into a tone of absolute like, absolute like Yep , you're right. That's exactly right. Yep . Someone's going to cut your filet up into little tiny Ws. What kind of a would you be if you were like, talk to the chef? Or like you, you're like a billionaire.
Speaker 2:Like , I I need a win today. Can you cut my steak up into little W So I have a , so I have a win
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Oh , that's psychopath status . Another way to apply energy management. Oh yeah, we talked about that. All stats point to getting better sleep, eating better meditating and exercise.
Speaker 2:This is just gonna be the repeat podcast cuz we're just gonna keep repeating ourselves every day .
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Exercise. I
Speaker 1:Don't know. But if someone listens to 50 episodes of the focus cast and they're like, man, I like that. I like where you went. And then it's like, yeah, no , I need to exercise. And they do it. Hey.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's great. I mean, I need to be reminded.
Speaker 2:It's true though. Let's be real.
Speaker 1:Like,
Speaker 2:I mean, you get caught up in life and you're like, I do need to hear this. Yeah. Because you forget or you're just not thinking about it. It's not on your mind. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You have a win. You get excited and you start working so much you forget to exercise.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then honestly though, all these little habits are what this is for longevity. Yeah,
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah . You know , that's great.
Speaker 2:It's , it's , it's so you're not burnt out. Yeah,
Speaker 1:You're right. Businesses start, but only , uh, 20%, only 80% make it past your one and 50% make it past year five. So it's longevity, energy made
Speaker 2:Isn't the whole point. Isn't that the whole point of this? I mean
Speaker 1:Yeah. If this episode was burst of energy. We talk about like cocaine. Yeah. We're not talking about, we're not talking about 30 minutes of energy . How ,
Speaker 2:Like we're
Speaker 1:Talking about living a long life
Speaker 2:<laugh> . Right. I mean, when I , because I know you're one of those, you're one of those people who you thrive kind of in that environment and you like creating Yeah . You're gonna be doing it until you die. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And you wanna have energy, right? Yes. So when you're sitting Brian Noel Yeah. And your seventies and you're like, man, I'm gonna start a business. Yeah. I'm gonna start my fourth hundredth business. Yeah. And I'm in my seventies and you know what? I still have energy. Why? Because I meditated. I exercised , I did all these little things throughout the day. I didn't just work a hundred hours a week and until I wanted to kill myself. Yeah. And then now I have lower back pain cuz I sat in a desk chair Yeah . For too long.
Speaker 1:Can't use your hands.
Speaker 2:My hands are up from repetitive strain injuries. You know, my wrists are all like, nothing works and I'm broken <laugh> , I don't wanna be broken. I have no intentions of being broken. That's just me though.
Speaker 1:When , um, yes, there's two scenarios here. At 70, I will probably be doing other businesses. Oh , there's three scenarios. I'm dead. Okay. So let's say I'm not dead. Yeah . So we're back to two scenarios. Scenario one is, I want to start another thing in my seventies, so I go do it. Scenario two is asking my home assistant to empty the pan <laugh> because I need a clear pan Yeah . To get excited about launching the next thing. Yeah. Which may still happen for whatever unforeseen circumstances, but , uh, yeah .
Speaker 2:All right .
Speaker 1:So I was , I don't wanna lead myself to that. I
Speaker 2:I listened to the model health show, right? Yeah . Yeah . And he talks about not expanding your lifespan, but your health span . Yeah. You know, why are we obsessed with how long we're gonna live? We should be obsessed with how long we're gonna be healthy.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Right? Yeah.
Speaker 2:No one cares about being the old person. I know I say this, someone's gonna make a montage, please. <laugh> no one cares about being the old person watching reruns drooling on themselves. Yeah. You know, you're waiting for your grandkids to call you and say happy birthday and they forget. You know, and you're miserable. Yeah . You're like, you're just rotting.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's not health span . I want health span . Yeah . I don't want lifespan. I want health span . Yeah. I'd rather die early and be healthy as than live to be like a hundred. And
Speaker 1:You know what the quote is, bro? Hm .
Speaker 2:What you got?
Speaker 1:I don't wanna roll into my grave. I wanna , I wanna jump, I wanna jump into my grave
Speaker 2:<laugh>. Exactly.
Speaker 1:I wanna be able to do a,
Speaker 2:I want a cartwheel in
Speaker 1:Cartwheel wheel <laugh> . I want a cartwheel Right into that hole. <laugh> .
Speaker 2:When it's time to die, I'm gonna hop , I'm gonna skip hop and a jump right in that. That's
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:It's so true though.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Our , our , our grandmother, our bcha , she was still doing stretches in her nineties. She had a little stretch routine. Yeah. She was still limber. Yeah. You know, I just, people in their seventies, sixties, probably even now, they're just, they're
Speaker 1:Broken, can barely stretch. Yeah . You
Speaker 2:Know, and it's like, you know, it sucks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sucks.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I don't, I don't , I don't think we're supposed to live like that.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Humans are not meant to be in that state.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm .
Speaker 2:<affirmative> , we're meant to thrive. Our bodies are capable Yeah . Of thriving for a long time. In fact age. Let's, let's hit this for a minute, bro. All right.
Speaker 1:I'm ready.
Speaker 2:By thinking about age and , and assuming that getting older is gonna make you decrepit. Yeah. You're already telling your body that it's gonna happen.
Speaker 1:Ooh .
Speaker 2:You know, you're already putting that ceiling on yourself. Yeah. Just by thinking like, man, I hope I'm not, you know, when I get older, I hope I can at least walk, you know? Yeah . I hope I can even do this when I'm older. You know, you, you associate Yeah . The numerical age with the actual
Speaker 1:Inability to do things.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And you're already putting those, those limits Yeah . In your life and putting that box on yourself. You
Speaker 1:Know, it's funny, you're right. Everyone wants to be young. Why do you wanna be young? Most, most of us, and most people are dumb asses when they're young. They're arrogant. They don't understand. They wanna do it all themselves. Yeah. They're like, they're they're working through all their. Yeah . They don't know anything. They have no experience, but yet it's like, oh , I wanna be young again. Why do you wanna be young again? I wanna be as agile as I am now and wise in my seventies. I've, I mean, I've You wanna be messed up so many times that I've learned so much and I'm 40 even .
Speaker 2:Yeah . Can imagine .
Speaker 1:Imagine when I'm 80.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh. Yeah . Seriously. Oh my gosh. So, you know, when it comes to aging Yeah. Just go ahead and take the notion just that when you picture Yeah. Like a 90 year old in the United States as like this decrepit Yeah . Hunched over sad life force that's barely hanging on. Yeah. Just go ahead and just go ahead and kill that image. Yeah. That's, that's not, that's not my future. Yeah. No way. Yeah. Plain and simple.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I'm telling you.
Speaker 2:So health span . Don't worry about lifespan, worry about health span .
Speaker 1:I tell you what, I've already decided that I'm gonna smoke if I make it to 90
Speaker 2:80 start smoking. If , if I grew the tobacco myself, I'll start smoking again later in life.
Speaker 1:All right . So that's what I picture. I'm riding a Harley <laugh> .
Speaker 2:All right . You're riding a Harley and you're smoking some tobacco that I grew.
Speaker 1:Yep . I'm not wearing a helmet.
Speaker 2:Why would you,
Speaker 1:Why would I, like I said, I want a cartwheel into it. Yeah . And one way to cartwheel into your death is hitting guard rail accident . <laugh> you
Speaker 2:35 flips and hit a tree.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You flipping that. You flipping right into you that great . So that's why I'm gonna, I'm gonna ride a Harley all black blacked out. Everything black?
Speaker 2:No,
Speaker 1:No. Chrome.
Speaker 2:No. Not chrome, but chrome . Not chrome, but no accent colors.
Speaker 1:No. Wow.
Speaker 2:Okay .
Speaker 1:No. Um, and
Speaker 2:You're gonna ride at night with the lights off .
Speaker 1:It's gonna be one of those World War II style ones too .
Speaker 2:Like the , the old looking old school bike.
Speaker 1:Old school. Harley. It doesn't even have to be a Harley actually. Like the old school
Speaker 2:Bike, like the cafe kind of looking bikes. Yes. Okay. So , but all
Speaker 1:Black.
Speaker 2:All right . So now we're on to a different kind. No
Speaker 1:Helmet. Right. And
Speaker 2:Smoking a hand roll.
Speaker 1:Smoking, a smoking a stogy ,
Speaker 2:A hand roll from tobacco. We grew on our property. Yep .
Speaker 1:Yeah. Probably right after , um, I drank moonshine.
Speaker 2:So you're , you're incorporating all the bad habits again when you get older because you're on that , that last part of life
Speaker 1:When I turn 80.
Speaker 2:Nice. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Eating a McDonald's, big Mac, drinking coke, <laugh> . Actually, I would never do that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:No, no, I'm good now . The tobacco thing. I , I , I think so. Why not?
Speaker 1:Definitely the motorcycle thing.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna go buy a pack of , uh, freaking Paul malls <laugh> . I'm gonna grow that myself. That's how it's gonna be. Yeah,
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah . Chewing on a , what , what's the, what's the original cocaine plant? Cocoa something.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Something like that.
Speaker 1:Anyway, just chewing
Speaker 2:On those leaves.
Speaker 1:I'll be chewing on some leaves, smoking some homegrown tobacco while
Speaker 2:We're just sitting here talking about nothing. So I was listening to a Joe Rogan episode and that there was a legit scientist, like a molecular scientist or he just looks studies molecules Yeah . And how they affect the brain. He was talking about drugs and basically his stance was is all drugs have a place. Yeah. Uh , but if you can find them and they're pure, but like he does cocaine, heroin. Yeah. All the big boys. Yeah. And , um, but he uses them I guess in a responsible way. Yeah . If there is such a thing. Pretty interesting episode. Don't remember the name, but,
Speaker 1:Well, we've associated hard drugs with addiction, but , uh, and we've convinced our culture that addiction is from the substance abuse, but addiction is from the neglect emotionally. And the use has the substance has nothing to do with the addiction.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We talked about that. The guys who come back from Vietnam Yeah . They were all doing heroin and only like 3% of 'em kept doing heroin. Yeah. But they were back with their families. They had their normal life. Yeah. The addiction was,
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Anyway. Yeah. Sweet bro.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Energy management,
Speaker 2:<laugh> . Is that what we're talking about? <laugh> ?
Speaker 1:I like energy management. I think it's pretty fun. Yeah . Um , so yeah, I think the biggest nugget outta this episode is , uh, stop, stop saying you don't have time, what you said, which I love. Um, change your image of yourself in the future. Yeah. There is no rush. Um, today. What's your energy level? Yeah. What can you accomplish and accomplish that.
Speaker 2:All right , bro. I think that's it. Let's
Speaker 1:Go.
Speaker 3:Thank you for listening to the Focus Cast . Go to youtube.com/the focus cast and slap that subscribe button. Head to the focus cast.com , share what you want , hear next, go forth and be focused as boy .
