Energy for High Performers

Introduction

Business leaders, entrepreneurs, and other high performers need an abundance of energy to thrive and perform with passion. Physical, mental, and emotional energy are determining success factors for high performance in this frenetic world. Based on personal experience, this article highlights a critical life factor: mitochondrial health for leaders.

Have you ever seen a lethargic leader or an entrepreneur?

Imagine a leader for a moment: fatigued, tired, depressed, and sad.

How would you feel about following and taking directions from that leader?

Excellent leaders and entrepreneurs are energetic and passionate professionals depicting sustainable high performance. These leaders are full of beans, shining with self confidence hence we admire this distinguishing attribute.

You get my point on importance of energy for excellent leaders and entrepreneurs!

In this article, I want to highlight the importance of mitochondrial health for leaders and provide essential considerations. The reasons for this awareness and actions are the energy we need to thrive and perform rising above mediocrity and perform sustainably. I point out and highlight 20 key considerations to improve our mitochondrial health aiming to increase our energy.

Every single cell in our body needs the energy to function.

It is so fundamental that if there is no energy, there is no life.

In business environments, low energy equates to low performance. This concern is not exclusive to leaders. All professionals need energy however high performing excellent leaders and entrepreneurs need more energy for performance.

Without going into scientic details, let me give you a brief background and set the context for biological energy production at high level using simple scientific terms.

What is Mitochondrion?

Mitochondrion is the singular noun for the mitochondria which are known as the energy powerhouses of our cells. The more energy our cells need the more amount of mitochondria are required.

In scientific terms, mitochondria are organelles that create ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). This process happens via cellular respiration by breaking nutrients and creating energy molecules for our cells.

This diagram depicts the high level structure of mitochondrion.

Importance of mitochondrial health for leaders

When our mitochondria are damaged or malfunctioning, our overall energy levels and daily performance drop dramatically. We start feeling lethargic, tired, and lazy. Low energy can be noticeable mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Leaders must be aware of mitochondrial health and take necessary measures to protect their mitochondria to produce abundance of energy to perform. Energy is a critical requirement for leadership performance and success.

Mitochondrial health is a well-researched topic in medicine and medical science. There are many ongoing cellular studies by many research institutions.

We know that, at high level, our nutrition, exercise regimen, sleep quality, recovery and resting habits have considerable impacts on the healthy functioning of mitochondria. Health practitioners, performance coaches, and leadership mentors pay special attention to this critical phenomenon in leadership discipline.

It is known that stress, toxins, and excessive heavy metals can have substantial negative impact on the proper functioning of mitochondria.

Even though genetics play an important role, ongoing research and a growing body of knowledge suggest that we can improve the health of mitochondria and prevent damages by leveraging positive lifestyle choices.

What can we do?

From my extensive research of the topic for my personal transformational experiments, I identified and practiced the following key factors for mitochondrial health considerations. I shared my personal experience and the details in one of my books titled "Simple & Powerful Life-Transforming Bio-Hacks". Here's the list for your consideration:

1. Effective stress management

2. Eliminating toxins and heavy metals from the body, and living in toxin free environments

3. Decreasing body fat percentage to healthy levels

4. Improving strength and lean muscle mass

5. Eating nutrient-dense food - consuming healthy fats are essential

6. Having adequate exercise (regular strength training)

7. Having quality and adequate sleep

8. Having enough rest

9. Meditation and mindfulness

10. Recovering after exercise and before starting exercise

11. Using dry saunas - perspiration

12. Exposure to cold - cold shower

13. Having a stable blood glucose level

14. Hormonal balance - particularly keeping insulin under control

15. Having adequate levels of vitamins, minerals, electrolytes

16. Optimal Vitamin (hormone) D levels

17. Optimal level of magnesium

18. Adequate sunshine

19. Fresh and clean air

20. Clean and purified water

Conclusions

There are some medical tests for health of mitochondria however these tests are still at infancy and not widely available to public. The best strategy and viable option is to protect our mitochondria and increase their density with the above mentioned health considerations.

The healthier and denser our mitochondria are, the more energy we can have.

Excellent leaders, high performers, and entrepreneurs need to take personal responsibility for their health and perform with sustainable energy. By taking personal responsibility and required actions, we can produce optimal results.

If we keep staying in our comfort zone, we may lose the density of our mitochondria. The 20 points captured in this article can keep us in our stretch zone.Understanding and considering the 20 points summarized in this article, taking necessary measures, and making required adjustments in our lifestyle, it is possible to have healthy mitochondria and maintain sustainable energy levels for high performance.

Having an abundance of energy is absolutely an essential requirement for excellent leaders and entrepreneurs. Energy is a critical success factor for thriving and performing sustainably.

We need to consider the health of our mitochondria and increase our energy to shine as excellent leaders and inspiring entrepreneurs to add meaning to our life and society.

Thank you for reading my perspectives.

Disclaimer

The original version of this story was published in another platform under a different title.

Reference

Simple & Powerful Life-Transforming Bio-Hacks by Dr Mehmet Yildiz

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