Page 232 · Module 10, Lead Yourself First · this screen continues that page
All 108 frameworks4 Energy Quadrants
You manage your calendar carefully but still feel drained and underperforming. You have
The prompt
Copy & paste readyLabelsReplace theseSwap the role below
Pro tip, from the book
The Minimum Viable Energy Routine is designed to be non-negotiable and sustainable not impressive. Most high-performers have complex morning routines they follow for two weeks and abandon. Four small, consistent habits performed daily for 90 days compound into a meaningfully different baseline. Start with sleep, then add one habit at a time.
Who should run this prompt
Module role profileWho should challenge how you are leading yourself? Self-leadership is the hardest kind because the subject and the observer are the same person. The roles on this page are designed to give you perspectives you cannot generate from inside your own thinking — the mentor who has already made your mistakes, the coach who sees your patterns more clearly than you do, and the critic who wants you to win. Use them when clarity matters most.
Choose any role to drop it into the prompt above. Only the highlighted opening clause changes — the rest of the prompt stays exactly as printed.
◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist◈ outside the organisation
How to make any role sharper
- Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
- Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
- Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
Use this when
The problem it solvesthe time but not the capacity. The problem is not scheduling, it is energy management. You are treating yourself like a machine that runs on hours rather than a human who runs on energy.
How the framework works
From the printed pageJim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, in The Power of Full Engagement, proposed that high performance depends on managing four types of energy: Physical (the foundation, sleep, movement, nutrition), Emotional (stability, resilience, positivity), Mental (focus, concentration, clear thinking), and Spiritual (meaning, purpose, alignment with values). Each type of energy has a capacity that can be built through stress and recovery cycles, like a muscle. Most high performers burn energy in all four dimensions without systematically recovering it, leading to diminishing performance over time despite increasing effort. The mistake most founders make is treating time as the scarce resource and energy as unlimited. It is the opposite. You can always find more hours, but energy that has not been recovered does not come back just because you willed it to. Managing your calendar without managing your energy is optimizing the wrong variable entirely.
The method, in four moves
Do these in orderAudit your current energy management across all four dimensions before designing any new habits.
Physical energy is foundational, nothing else works well when it is depleted. Fix sleep first.
Identify your highest-energy time of day and protect it for your highest-cognitive work.
Build recovery rituals for each energy type, not just physical recovery. Manage your energy not just your time
Where the framework comes from
Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement, 2003
Pairs well with
As printed with this frameworkModule 10 — Lead Yourself First
The company can only grow as fast as its founder.
11 frameworks, printed on pages 225–246.
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