Second Wind – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

Where does the energy to keep going come from?

Photo by maite vanucci on Unsplash

Exhaustion and the feeling of running on empty are real. There are more tired people, teams and companies today than ever, and we’ve pushed past every threshold of prolonged stress. If we were already carrying a heavy load before the pandemic, with all the challenges we face now it would be a fallacy to think we have more slack in time or energy. How can we deal with this and find that "second wind"?

Surreal as it may sound, it’s well known and widely proven that human beings have energy reserves that kick in exactly when we need them most. I’ve experienced this myself several times in training sessions and races where I pushed my body to the limit. The same has happened at work, both personally and as a coach, watching it unfold in the teams I work with.

What lets us tap into those reserves and use them to our advantage? Training is undoubtedly a vital part of any strategy for drawing on them in tougher moments. But how much longer can we keep up this "new pace"? So before any training, we need to answer a few questions: Does what I’m doing, or what we’re doing, make sense? Is it sustainable in the long run? Is it in tune with my purpose, or ours?

Life as we knew it is clearly never going back to the way it was. We’ve adapted to this huge change in some way, yet as the Mick Jagger song goes, "Old habits die hard." We’re playing in a new arena where the rules have changed, and some of the tools we brought from the past are still serving us as we navigate the ups and downs. If we want to be our best version even at the hardest times ("be your best when you’re at your worst"), finding alternatives is no longer enough. We need to create them.

In a hostile climate, in the middle of a storm, with demands of every kind, stress and the edge of emotional exhaustion, keeping our energy at 100% to give our very best seems impossible. Yet we all have a unique capacity to find a second wind, and a third, a fourth, a fifth, at any moment and at any hour. Developing that capacity will undoubtedly take our lives to a higher level. Where there’s purpose there’s passion, and where there’s passion there’s energy.

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

• P.S. This week’s VELA (what I was Watching, Listening to, Reading and Learning):
• What I was Watching: Why the best hire might not have the perfect resume. A great tip from my friend José Alejandro Pérez. A good talk, especially for understanding how some people have been trained by life for adversity, and when they get a chance to shine, they shine for good
  – What I was Listening to: Entrevista de Marcelo Longobardi a Mario Vargas Llosa (Marcelo Longobardi interviews Mario Vargas Llosa). I admire them both, and this interview is deeply revealing thanks to how openly the great Mario Vargas Llosa shares his views on issues so fundamental to human beings
  – What I was Reading: Empresas familiares en Guatemala (Family businesses in Guatemala). On the recommendation of my great friend Otto Velásquez, I put 12 more rules for life on hold. This short but outstanding book on family businesses in Guatemala by José Molina Calderón is an invaluable gem for understanding the history and present of my country’s business world. Highly recommended
  – What I was Learning: Ética y Moral (Ethics and Morals). A great resource I found on YouTube, especially this very clear video on the differences between ethics and morals, a subject I’m passionate about and keep learning more about every day

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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