Boost your energy to perform

“ Put gaps in your life: moments to reflect, prepare, meditate and breathe. ”

Jody Adams

The sunny days arrive with spring and, like nature, we feel the need to blossom and recharge in order to become even more effective. How? Quite simply, by learning to take care of ourselves.

I cultivate my energy

Leading significant change requires enthusiasm and the commitment of many people over a sometimes long period. A transformation usually begins with vision, enthusiasm, and numerous initiatives that often struggle to endure throughout implementation. As leaders or managers, with the need to preserve both our own energy and our teams’ engagement, we must begin by maintaining our own—by taking care of ourselves. This positions us as inspiring role models, with the goal of encouraging others to follow our example.

But managing our own energy is not the only factor to consider. Our teams invest as much as we do in evolving and transforming, and it is our responsibility, as managers, to encourage and support them in managing theirs. Identifying those who are overworking and finding solutions together to lighten their workload, offering more flexibility in schedules and travel through remote working when possible, managing and debriefing tense situations—these are daily acts of management necessary to ensure our teams’ long-term progress. Organizing teambuilding events also helps strengthen bonds and improve communication.

The key to long-term success lies in open exchange and the flow of information, attentive listening, and working well together, in order to keep negative stress—the great consumer of both physical and mental energy—at bay.

I channel my energy and stress through sport

If positive stress is a synonym for stimulation, effectiveness, and performance, it also requires proper management to make us sharp while remaining relaxed. Not easy to fit sport into a busy schedule? That’s just an excuse! The effort required is minimal compared to the benefits of regular practice, even short sessions. I can personally attest to the positive effects of regular yoga practice in my daily life.

Yoga (from the Sanskrit root yug-, meaning “link”) is a practice that fosters connection between body and mind. It is therefore both a philosophy and a physical practice, developing physical strength, flexibility as much as power and mental strength, focus, willpower, calm, and relaxation of the mind. There are many types of yoga, ranging from the most philosophical to the most physical!

Yoga also has the enormous advantage of bringing us into contact with our limits, preventing us from falling into one of the eight derailment factors of leaders: overconfidence or omnipotence. One of the benefits of practice, through this dialogue between body and mind, is the revelation of our internal conflicts. For example, if balance postures are difficult to achieve, it is likely that balance is also lacking in our professional life.

As for emotions, other sports can help us build our fighting spirit—boxing, for example. Personally, when I feel the need to strengthen mine, I take part in a Thai boxing training session, an effective way to discharge negative energy.

I recharge my batteries

As you know, it’s not always the amount of time spent on a project that matters, but the quality of the result. For this, it is important to create personal rituals that allow us to relax and restore energy.

The benefits of a nap, even one lasting just a few minutes, are well recognized and documented. However, in France, workplace napping remains taboo and rare. Several studies have established a link between napping and increased cognitive and psychomotor performance. Workplace naps also boost creativity and productivity, help reduce stress and poor concentration. A sign of changing attitudes: there is a beautiful nap room at BNP Paribas’s WeareInnovation. However, whether micro or power naps, though appealing, they can still seem out of place in the office.

The idea that lack of sleep has serious consequences is gaining ground in the United States, notably thanks to Arianna Huffington’s book, in which the Huffington Post founder shares her personal experience of professional burnout.

Finally, I recommend breathing exercises to ease tension, mobilize resources, and sharpen focus. By playing with inhalation and exhalation, simple exercises can help maintain energy at the right level and can be practiced discreetly—in meetings, at your desk, while walking, or whenever you feel the need to calm yourself.

I eat, therefore I am

Changing our diet fosters curiosity and risk-taking, and highlights our relationship to change, showing how we can rewrite the story we tell ourselves. Personally, I have not yet managed to convince myself to try eating insects, but I have expanded my tastes, particularly through the discovery of natural wines, low in sulfites.

Being attentive to our tastes in food teaches us much more about ourselves than simply what we like or dislike. By knowing ourselves better, identifying what is good for us and what is not, we accept ourselves more fully and make choices that are meaningful. This certainly worked well for Jason Mraz, and I refer you to his interview to discover how better eating helped him win a Grammy Award!

Eating better also involves cooking meals yourself or with family rather than buying ready-made food. Surprisingly, this time dedicated to our well-being through food can help us achieve a better balance between professional and personal life. And don’t forget: healthy eating provides the body with the fuel it needs to sustain its energy!

So, I wish you a good meal, followed by a restorative micro-nap, then a revitalizing yoga or sports session, all interspersed with work sessions and meetings, or the other way around!