Freedom of acceleration, maximum control and maneuverability kept me at the wheel of my little sports car for 14 years. I felt resistance to the newer cars that seemed to want to take control away from me. But the time came and I succumbed to a newer model.
Well, it turns out, I was wrong in my fear. This newer car is quite amazing.
As a human being having more of the right kind of energy is a great asset for quality of life and performance. This newer car is quite amazing in how it manages energy. And, it can teach us humans a few things about how to focus our energy. Check it out:
1. When you stop – turn it off
The car feature:
The engine shuts off when stopped at stop lights! This was so disconcerting initially, that I almost didn’t buy this car.
Human application:
I found after I understood this feature, it reminded me of the importance of stopping when there is no reason to keep the engine running, as if the car was nudging me to center myself. My questions to you, “When you stop do you really turn off or are you continuing to run your mind and emotions? Can you to sit quietly in a room by yourself and just breathe?”
2. Optimize your resilience by monitoring your off time
The car feature:
In my car there is an electronic starter that monitors the engine conditions. It restarts the engine before those conditions can go too cold, and this prevents energy loss because the engine doesn’t have to totally restart. A full restart is a huge drain on the battery reserves.
Human Application:
With us humans this restart function isn’t built-in automatically! Instead, it’s important to monitor our breaks so our engines don’t go cold. Think about the last time you took too long of a lunch break or nap and how difficult it was is to ‘restart’ your engine. Having the just right amount of down time makes you resilient and fresh!
3. Adjust your energy for the task at hand
The car feature:
My new car has three different power modes:
Sport – for lots of power and acceleration, while using more gas;
Green – for less power using less gas; and
Medium – for normal driving.
Human application:
I for one observe how much my energy shifts throughout the day. Planning and adapting help me identify what level of energy to exert at a given time. My question to you: how do you do with adjusting your energy for the task at hand? Are you in Sport mode while on the phone when you might overwhelm the person on the other end? Are you in Green mode when running a meeting that bores people?
My resistance to this change was unfounded and what I got is just as much fun and more efficient!
Now, every time I get behind the wheel, my newer car reminds me to consider how I am using my energy.
How about you?
