Effectively managing our physical, psychological, and emotional resources is essential in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
Dr. Darin Davidson partners with Learner+, a CME/CE reflective learning platform for healthcare providers. For the opportunity to reflect on this article and earn CME/CE credits, Launch here. Check out all past articles which are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits.
For downloadable, actionable strategies and tactics to leverage biology in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance, visit the resource store, Launch here. Chapters are arranged by topic so those of interest can be selected and each are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits through Learner+.
In order to accomplish and complete any task in life, whether related to health, wellbeing, or sustainable high performance, it is necessary that we have sufficient physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual resources. It is necessary to acknowledge that our resources are not limitless. As we perform various activities, we consume these resources by necessity. This is not to suggest that we should subscribe to a scarcity mindset, but rather acknowledge that while we are able to replenish our resources, we should also be mindful of effectively using those resources.
Any, and all, tasks and activities with which we engage will require that we utilize available resources. Of course, the higher the demand nature of any task or activity the higher will be the usage of these resources. As noted above the reality of the situation is that we do not have limitless resources, although we are able to replenish our available resources. Given that we must be mindful of having sufficient available resources to pursue current and upcoming tasks, it becomes important to develop strategies and tactics to effectively manage and utilize our available resources.
This concept of understanding and developing strategies and tactics to optimally utilize resources is a core component of the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete. It applies equally to the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance. From the perspective of health and wellbeing promotion it is necessary that we have sufficient available resources to perform our daily activities as well as to recover and heal from any ailments or conditions we may develop. Maintenance and promotion of health is dependent upon sufficient resources within our biology in order to repair the inevitable stress and strain which results from regular activities and to recover from any additional illness or injuries.
Should our available resources become depleted, this will inevitably and invariably lead to numerous physical, emotional, and psychological ailments. If this persists over time, this can be become chronic in nature, thereby limiting our ability to pursue health and wellbeing. Often, emergence of chronic diseases occurs as a result.
From the perspective of sustainable high performance, the effective utilization of available resources becomes paramount. In order to perform at our highest level, irrespective of the specific craft and tasks, it is essential that we have an even higher level of available resources. The very nature of pursuing our best performance over an extended duration of time inevitably requires consumption of a high level of resources. Should these resources become depleted, our ability to perform at our highest level will diminish and we can rapidly develop burnout as well as the physical, emotional, and psychological ailments common to the depletion of resources in the pursuit of health and wellbeing.
It is useful when we are considering the optimal utilization of resources to consider strategies and tactics to accomplish this important objective. This fits within the overall framework of the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete in which we develop mind-based and body-based skills to leverage our biology to allow us to pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance. An integral component of this perspective is the development of strategies to develop the necessary skills over time as well as tactics to manage current situations. This is also the case when we consider resource utilization.
From the perspective of strategies we can develop, it is useful to consider the development and implementation of a regular recovery routine. This has been detailed in past articles. The importance of a recovery routine is that it allows us to restore and replenish the resources we inevitably will utilize over the course of our activities and experiences.
Another important strategy is to limit the expenditure of unnecessary resources. We all commonly, for example, can become stuck in rumination loops in which we repeatedly and continuously consider possible future events. This usually takes the form of a negative or an anxious perspective. Most commonly this emerges when we are worried about future events or concerned about possible outcomes. When we become stuck in these loops, we continuously consider the possible results of a given scenario, usually from a negative perspective regarding what may go wrong or what may not occur to our level of expectation. This repeated use of mental resources to consider these possible outcomes leads to high volume expenditure of emotional and psychological resources. In addition, such a situation can also lead to shifts in biological state towards activated, attacking, anxious, overwhelmed, and shutdown states which further reduces our ability to pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
Using the example of rumination loops noted above, it becomes important to develop tactics which we can implement to limit to the greatest degree possible this unhelpful expenditure of resources. While it is normal and inevitable that we will at times engage in such rumination loops, it is also the case that in most instances such use of resources does not improve our scenario or our ability to manage the situation. It is often the case that these rumination loops emerge from anxious, overwhelmed, and shutdown states. Utilizing this understanding, we can readily appreciate how identifying our underlying biological state and implementing skills to shift it towards an anchored and grounded state can improve the situation and decrease the likelihood of becoming stuck in rumination loops.
A useful tactic to implement when we recognize that we have utilized a large degree of resources is to implement restoration practices. This can take the form of any mind-based or body-based skills, which will predictably lead to shifts towards anchored and grounded states. If we recognize that we have shifted into activated, attacking, anxious, overwhelmed, or shutdown states we should first employ body-based skills to shift back to anchored and grounded states. While in the midst of tasks and activities, it can be useful to implement breathing practices as well as changes in muscle tone and posture in order to accomplish this biological shift.
It is important to emphasize that the expenditure of resources is a necessary and inevitable occurrence throughout our lives. This is particularly the case in the pursuit of sustainable high performance. As such the integration of the strategies and tactics discussed above is an essential component to the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
To learn more, including about polyvagal informed coaching for healthcare professionals and others in high demand domains, please visit www.darindavidson.com.
Dr. Darin Davidson partners with Learner+, a CME/CE reflective learning platform for healthcare providers. For the opportunity to reflect on this article and earn CME/CE credits, Launch here. Check out all past articles which are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits.
For downloadable, actionable strategies and tactics to leverage biology in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance, visit the resource store, Launch here. Chapters are arranged by topic so those of interest can be selected and each are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits through Learner+.