Become Your Own Chief Energy Officer - Part 1 of 2

Why Energy, Not Time, Is the Currency of Performance

You know what CEO usually stands for: Chief Executive Officer.

Today, I invite you to think differently. What if each of us could, and should, become our own Chief Energy Officer?

Because success today doesn’t come from managing time. Time is finite. Success comes from managing energy. And energy is renewable.

We’ve all had mornings where we wake up rested, even before the alarm, and the whole day flows. Ideas land. Conversations connect. It feels like we could move mountains.

And then there are mornings when we’ve hardly slept, we wake with a headache, and suddenly even the smallest challenges feel insurmountable.

“Energy changes how you think, how you feel, and how you act. Energy gives you margin. It is the real currency of performance.”

The Problems We’re Facing

And yet, here’s the reality for many of us today:

• Fatigue. We aren't energised, Were exhausted. Burnout stats are at an all-time high. We’re running on empty but still pushing to deliver.
• No time. Diaries are overflowing and bursting at the seams. Health and wellbeing are pushed to the bottom of the list. The truth? We aren’t running out of time, we are running out of energy.
• Disengagement. Gallup tells us nearly 80% of employees worldwide are disengaged. We are not only drained we are very distracted too.
• Stress. We feel stressed and stimulated making us feel super tired but so wired, we're unable to switch off. Stress alone costs organisations billions in lost productivity.

Stress vs. Coherence

Stress itself isn’t the enemy. Life will always bring us challenges. What matters is our ability to react, respond and recover.

When we live in constant stress mode, the body is locked in survival: muscles tight, heart racing, vision narrowed, immunity lowered, digestion disrupted. The brain is trapped in high-beta waves which are fast, scattered, reactive. That’s not where innovation or wise decision-making comes from.

The opposite state is coherence. Less constriction and tension. More ease and clarity.

“Calm and alert doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.”

This is where Performance Chemistry comes in.

Your Ancient Intelligence

In the age of Artificial Intelligence, we must also remember our Ancient Intelligence which is coded into our biology. Into our chemistry. 

We each have three powerful centres of intelligence to draw on:

• Head — the brain and mindset
• Heart — emotional intelligence and coherence
• Gut — intuition and physical resilience

Performance Chemistry uses neuroscience, behavioural science and nutrition to help us harness these three centres.

• Neuroscience to optimise the four-pound universe on your shoulders for an agile, creative, resilient mind.
• Behavioural science to align head and heart, cultivating emotional intelligence, coherence, compassion and joy.
• Nutrition and holistic wellbeing to fuel your physical energy, immunity and ability to access your inner wisdom, your intuition.

Breath: Your Most Ancient Performance Tool

Let’s make this real.

Your breath is the first thing you did when you arrived in this world and it will be the last thing you do before you leave. Ignore it, and you walk through life feeling more deflated than you should. Harness it, and you can bring your head, heart, and gut back online.

Try this now:

• Inhale and think Strong Back - lengthen your spine, lift through the crown of your head, feel supported.
• Exhale and think Soft Front - release the jaw, drop the shoulders, soften the belly.

Repeat a few times. Notice what shifts in less than 60 seconds. Cortisol and adrenaline drop. Brainwaves begin to slow. Clarity and calm rise. Creativity sparks.

That’s Performance Chemistry in action.

Coming Up In Next Article: From Knowledge to Practice

If all this performance, resilience and wellbeing stuff was easy, we’d all be doing it. But as I know you know, common knowledge isn’t common practice.

In Part Two, I’ll share the ABC framework that makes behaviour change simple, sustainable, and joyful - even when you’re already stretched. Especially so!