Proactive Energy Recovery

by John Allen Mollenhauer, RegenUs Center, 
This article is the second part of a two-part series. See Part I. 

Proactive Energy Recovery: It’s Essential Both During a Pandemic and Your Everyday Life If You Want to Stay Healthy, Performing Well, and Productive, Part II.  

​In this article, I want to challenge and expand your understanding of proactivity and add to your concept of what’s essential for maintaining a healthy, driven life.

What is proactive recovery? 

Pro- 1. a prefix indicating favor for some idea or system.
Active 1. engaging or ready to engage in physically energetic pursuits. “I need to change my lifestyle and become more active.”
Re·cov·er·y 1. a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.

So, right off the bat, we learn that being “proactive” is about being in favor of some kind of physical activity that is an energetic pursuit, which of course, includes the use of your brain. 

If you are reading this, you are likely a driven business professional—an entrepreneur, a small business owner, service pro, or executive on top of being a parent with potential recreational or creative pursuits to boot.

You are also faced with relentless demands on your time and energy.

You are driven, and you exude proactivity. Why? Because we live in a performance culture now, and you have to function at a high level every day. You haven’t got time to be sick, laid up and out of the game for a prolonged period, because you’re a highly responsible human being with a lot of commitments.   

Now consider this. Have you ever sat down and thought about all the things you’re doing that are supposed to make you healthier, and more productive, have more energy, and enjoy every second life has to offer? Then end up asking yourself, “If I’m doing all of this, then why in the hell am I so overwhelmed and tired all the time?”

Do you sometimes feel like you’re doing everything in your power to stay in motion, to be successful in your professional and your personal life, and to be ecstatically happy? Still, for some reason, a reason you can’t quite put your finger on, you sometimes feel like you’re barely hanging on by a thread?  Do you sometimes dread waking up the next day to have to do it all over again?

If you answered Yes to any of the above, then I’ve got some bad news for you.

Chances are you’ve worked hard to be as successful as you are today. Maybe you’ve achieved more than you thought you ever would, in both your business life AND in your personal life – may be many times over. 
And, chances are, you’ve been worn down, even during some of your strongest hours, only to have to pick yourself up over and over to keep going. You’ve always made a strong comeback, every single time, because you’re a winner, even if you haven’t achieved some of the goals you think about.

“Blood, Sweat, and Tears” is your Silent but Driving Mantra... You live and die by this very phrase. And you’re proud of it, as you should be.

But here’s the bad news.
Even though you make a strong comeback, each time you’re worn down, you become increasingly tired with each successive round. Tiredness becomes exhaustion, and exhaustion becomes fatigued, and fatigue turns into back pain, shoulder pain, and the like that further distracts and holds you back.  You then fall into the never-ending cycle of picking yourself up to give it another go—time after time again, and “most people” descend into a behind-the-scenes trend towards mounting weariness, because of one or more of the following reasons:

1. Confusion about what actually gives human beings energy and what takes it way. There is so much information promising the sun, the moon, and the stars when it comes to increasing energy--and most of it is just plain delusional, keeping you more “caught up” and exhausted, and forcing the never-ending downward cycle to repeat itself all because they never learned what actually creates more energy and how to sustain it.

2. Belief in marketing (spin).  The fact is that we are living in a “Gotta Have It Yesterday” world that moves fast. Marketing is playing into the desperation this causes for all it’s worth, promising energy, weight loss, and success results that just can’t be achieved “sanely” in the time frame they claim, without unsustainable efforts.

3. Frustration with the lack of desire results. Because people rarely solve their real problem, they end up exactly or not far from where they started, frustrated and confused, searching for the next miracle, the next book, the next program that promises to give them what they want.  

So it’s not surprising that people fail to get the results they’re expecting. Trying to figure it out, they get caught up in operation “money suck” and end up throwing in the towel until the next silver bullet arrives. Each time a little more tired, almost unwilling to put their faith in another attempt.  And if you think I’m describing the “unmotivated,” you’re in for a surprise. In many cases, it’s the driven people who are the most overwhelmed, exhausted, and overweight, burning out and trading their health for success as they cope with stress in ways that create more stress.
   
Does any of this sound like you? If you answered, “Yes,” you’ve got to get proactive about recovery. No, not the kind we think of when we hear the term “recovery,” relating to drugs, alcohol, etc.  
Although, if you don’t get proactive about the kind recovery I’m talking about, you may soon need that kind of redemption.

What I’m talking about is the proactive recovery of your energy.

Athletes are very aware of this, and it’s why they perform, look, and feel the way they do; their whole lifestyle is oriented around the management of energy. But you don’t have to be into sports or even a fitness enthusiast to get proactive energy recovery working for you. 

Where do you start?
You start by recharging your “body battery,” which will give you the energy you need to make a series of lifestyle changes, improvements, and optimizations that will bring you back to a state of health, mind, and strength. 

Yes, your body has the properties of the “battery,” and it needs to be proactively recharged and restored to capacity. When you do so, all your other faculties and functions can “operate” at capacity, yielding health, and higher performance that will positively affect you personally and professionally.

If you have followed any of my previous articles on the chamber blog, you know I’ve made a career out of helping people make the one and ultimate transformation they need to make day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out throughout their life--

Proactive Energy Recovery is the commitment to regular and systematic “regeneration” at the core of optimizing the way you live.

It’s why we recently opened one of the first RegenUs Centers in Morris County, where we help people feel, think, look and perform better, with a proactive recovery program that changes their life for the better forever.

If you are feeling run down, you’re trying to change, but are having a hard go of it, don’t worry. It’s not a character flaw. Chances are you are simply run down and are not strong enough to challenge yourself.  I’m not talking psychological strength, you’ve probably got that, even though we can all, always improve. What I’m talking about is what gives you the will to think, act, and persist at higher levels. Strength of any kind depends on it. It’s your life force energy. 

“Proactive Energy Recovery” may not be an energetic activity directly in pursuit of achievement, but you will most definitely be accomplishing what nothing else can.  You’ll beat fatigue, get your energy back, and eventually get out of pain. Now just imagine what will happen in all of your physically energetic pursuits when you do that!

PS: Your immune systems strength also depends on it, and right now, in the middle of a pandemic, that strength will come in mighty handy too.  

John Allen Mollenhauer, “JAM,” is a member of the Morris County Chambers’ Health and Wellness Committee. He’s a Professional Lifestyle Coach, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and family man. You can learn more about him here.