Our Four Forgotten Needs

If you want to fuel a car, you just fill it up with gas. Plug your computer into a wall socket and it’s good to go.

But human beings need to fuel four separate energy needs in order to fire on all cylinders. Most organizations invest very little effort in meeting any of them, and many of us don’t do much better on our own behalf.

Our core need is physical. That’s the foundation on which everything else rests, even in a mostly sedentary job. The quantity of energy available to us effects how we feel, how well we think and even how motivated we are to do our jobs. There are four keys to physical energy: eating the right foods at the right time in the right portions; exercising regularly; resting and renewing intermittently during the day, and sleeping a minimum of 7 to 8 hours at night.

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Our second energy need is emotional. How we feel profoundly influences how we perform, and many of us aren’t aware of how frequently and rapidly the way we feel changes throughout the day. Positive emotions are critical to high performance, and they can be consciously cultivated. At the organizational level, people’s engagement levels are profoundly influenced by the degree to which they feel valued and appreciated by their managers and leaders.

The third energy need is mental. The better we’re able to focus on one thing at a time for sustained periods of time, the more efficient we are, and the higher the quality of our work. We’re far less effective when we split our attention between multiple task and allow ourselves to be constantly distracted. At the same time, the more clearly we define our priorities – focusing first on the most important and challenging activities – the more enduring value we’re likely to produce.

The fourth and final source of energy is spiritual. That’s the energy derived from deeply held values and a clearly sense of purpose that gets embodied in your everyday behaviors. The more we feel something truly matters, the more energy, focus, commitment and perseverance we bring to it. Likewise, the more organizations give employees the sense that what they’re doing really matters – that it serves something beyond just the bottom line – the greater the value those employees are likely to produce.

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