Blog
Maximizing your ROE (Return on Energy)?
by Elizabeth Ruske
March 31, 2011
Last month, our FREE tele-connect conference call centered on the theme of “ life integration”. How can we, as women, choose to integrate our lives to provide us access to a “feeling” of more time, more happiness, more joy, more satisfaction?
Now it’s important to note that integrating things in your life isn’t actually going to give you more hours in the day, but it will give you the feeling of creating synergy and flow. The key to maximizing your ROE (Return on Energy), is through integrating things because it takes the stop/start energy of a balancing act and coverts it into smooth/flow energy.
Integration has a completely different feel to it and it even creates a magical mathematical formula where 1+1=3. I say magical because you still have the exact same amount of time in every day, and yet somehow, it feels more graceful and easy. We are not trying to come up with a new gimmick or trick where you now try to do more things or add more onto your plate. That’s not our intention when we talk about integrating your life.
It is also important to point out that integration is not merely “multi-tasking”.
Right about now you are probably saying, OK, I get this . . . but HOW do I do it? The critical component that enables you to experience the positive ROE by integrating your values and priorities is “being present”. I know that sounds simple – and it is a little more challenging than most of us think. When you are present in any moment or circumstance you can see the opportunities for integration – they emerge and show themselves.
Here’s an example of being present and looking for ways to integrate some priorities in your life. Perhaps you are a working mom and you are constantly trying to find ways to juggle your job, home responsibilities and spending quality time with your kids. If you are applying an ROE strategy, one thing you might look to do is include your kids in some of your home responsibilities. That may mean;
- teaching them to do laundry by helping you sort/fold clothes together
- volunteering to be the pick-up driver from their sports practice or game so you can spend time in the car catching up and maybe stopping for dinner or a snack on the way
- going for a walk or jog and invite them to ride their bikes along with you.
While practical and simple ideas, these are also ways of being and feeling connected to your kids while you are accomplishing some of your other responsibilities and tasks. Now here’s the real key — it isn’t the number of hours or how often you do this . . . it is the energy you feel as a result. The energy generated is the win because it creates a compounding impact on you and gives you the feeling of time and space.
Join us in April for our 4-part tele-series to master the art of integration. Here’s the link for more information http://tiaracoaching.com/events/global-events/april-5-26-better-than-balance-life-integration-teleseries/
Thanks for this Beth. It’s perfect for me to read it today. I just got back from a trip yesterday and it’s easy for me to feel “behind” and be in catch up, scurry mode after being out of the office for a few days.
Today I want to focus on my energy and how I’m feeling…and play a fun game of looking for ways to integrate!