No B.S Friday: Why you should model your life on your own heart.
A couple of weeks ago, I drew a distinction between short-burst energy, and near-infinite energy, and said that as much as possible, you want to anchor your productive life in near-infinite energy.
If you look at the human there are two things going – two kinds of energy at play.
The first is short-burst energy. Think about doing a bench press at the gym. Or bicep curls. Or running. Your body summons the energy it needs, you do the task, but the energy is quickly depleted.
So there’s that.
The second type of energy you have access to is near-infinite energy. The way your heart beats from your first breath to your last. The way your lungs never stop their rhythm. The way the brain is never fully off.
In fact, if you were to list out most of the things your body does, including all the hormonal reactions, and digesting of food and fighting off toxins etc, my guess is that 90% of what you do is driven by near-infinite energy.
But this is all happening unconsciously.
Now the mistake I think people make is that when they decide to switch up their life, they make a conscious decision, and therefore think that the energy they need will be consciously chosen energy – it will be short burst energy.
But the problem with short-burst energy is that it quickly runs out.
Instead, what you want to do is find a way to access that near-infinite energy.
(So true. I love this guy. One of my favourite thinkers.)
But what I didn’t do in that piece was talk about how you can access that energy.
Now, there’s probably a few dimensions to that, but one of the best things you can do I think is try to model yourself on those parts of yourself that are working with near-infinite energy.
Think about the heart and lungs. What’s one of the things that defines them?
Rhythm.
They’re built on rhythm. Sometimes the rhythm picks up, sometimes it slows down. But it’s always there. It’s never dropped.
And so I think if you want to have an exceptionally productive life, you need to be working with rhythm.
To start I think that means working in with the rhythms of the earth. Waking up and going to bed at a consistent time. Eating regular amounts at regular intervals.
And then I think it’s about working routine into your life.
Know with certainty what the first hour after waking is going to be like. Know what happens after breakfast. Know what you’ll do with your last waking hour.
Build in routines, connect with the rhythm of the day, and you will bring yourself more powerfully into that heart-like energy – that capacity to just keep going and going without even thinking about it.
Try it out. Maybe rhythm is the tool you’re looking for.
JG.