Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life Hardcover – May 5, 2015

The media could not be loaded.    “To discover what creates a full charge, my team and I reviewed countless articles and academic studies, and interviewed some of the world’s leading social scientists. We identified and catalogued more than 2,600 ideas for improving daily experience. As we narrowed down the concepts to the most proven and practical strategies, underlying patterns continued to surface. Three key conditions differentiate days when you have a full charge from typical days: • Meaning: doing something that benefits another person • Interactions: creating far more positive than negative moments • Energy: making choices that improve your mental and physical health ...The good news is that you don’t have to go on a retreat in the woods to find meaning, you don’t need to find new friends at a cocktail party to have better interactions, and you certainly don’t need to run a marathon or embark on a fad diet to create physical energy. The biggest changes for your daily well-being start with a few small steps.”~ Tom Rath from Are You Fully Charged?Are you fully charged?Tom Rath tells us it’s all about what we do DAILY and that if we want to improve the quality of our lives (and sense of aliveness!), we need to focus on optimizing three key conditions: Meaning + Interactions + Energy.Tom himself is an incredibly inspiring guy. Diagnosed with cancer at 16, he discovered that he has a rare gene mutation that shuts off a powerful tumor suppressor. As a result, he lost his left eye and has spent a week in the hospital every year getting tests to make sure his various cancers (in his eye, kidneys, pancreas, adrenal glands, and spine) are in check before getting a new 12-month lease on life. (Wow.)Being the superhero he is, this has catalyzed him to make the most of every day. He’s written a number of books (including StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Eat Move Sleep) that have sold over 6 million copies and spent 300+ weeks on The Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.Tom also wrote one of our absolute favorite children’s books (which complements this book) called The Rechargeables featuring two little kids (Poppy and Simon) who learn how to get their charge up via moving, eating and sleeping then go on a mission to help the rest of their town. Emerson LOVES it. (As he runs to the park or eats “brain food” he’ll often say, “I’m getting my charge up!” (And, when he wakes up from a nap I love to take a look at his charge. :)Let’s explore some of my favorite Big Ideas:1. The 3 Conditions - = Meaning + Interactions + Energy.2. Meaning - = Strengths + Interests + Needs.3. Your Talents - Double down every turn.4. 45 + 15 - Work. Rest. Repeat.5. 500 Million Moments - Use them wiselyHere’s to getting our charge way up as we optimize, actualize and give ourselves most fully to the world!More goodness— including PhilosophersNotes on 300+ books in our ​*OPTIMIZE*​ membership program. Find out more at brianjohnson . me.

Ever look back on a book you just finished and found you had highlighted something important on virtually every page?That’s what just happened with Tom Rath’s new book, Are You Fully Charged? Because what Rath’s book does is perhaps the hardest thing a book can do: it prompts you to start down your very own path of thinking differently. Here, it’s thinking differently about what it means to lead a meaningful and ‘fully charged’ life. No small task. And Rath handles it with grace.It’s the reader’s personal path because of the personal and sparklingly engaging way Rath delivers his message. There are concrete, practical, suggestions sprinkled across every page. But what you will NOT find is any traces of “how-to” or handing down of some set of rules. The feeling is more like you are talking over the backyard fence to a neighbor who has just gotten back from a trip around the world and has something important to share about his journey. Rath’s concern here is what he calls “the science of everyday life.” So if you, by chance, have a second neighbor who is prone to believing nothing until it’s backed up by scientific fact, Rath is ready to talk to him too. This time with a list of sources and research findings that would make any scholar stand up and start applauding while the rest of us just want to get back to hearing Rath’s story.Rath’s mega hit book Strengths Finder 2.0 took the reader on a journey of self-discovery by prompting an answer to the question, “how do I find the language to describe my own, unique talents? And then, once found, how to I build those talents into strengths?” In Are You Fully Charged? he goes beyond that question and gets at “a different way of measuring what’s important in life.” And in speaking to the three keys: “Meaning, Interactions and Energy” he succeeds. Brilliantly.Along the way you will be treated to a host of stories, thoughts, research findings and old fashioned practical advice that touches on questions you most likely haven’t thought about before. Questions like: Why abandon the pursuit of happiness? How do I develop the ultimate strength? Is it true that my oversleeping isn’t bad? And, what can we learn from Paraguay?Perhaps you have a neighbor across the backyard fence that can give substance and life to answering questions like those, and illuminate what it means to live a life chock full of meaning, interactions and energy.If so, go talk with him! If not, go get your copy of Are You Fully Charged?Get it right now.It’s a fun and incredibly thought provoking book. A path to your own personal answer to the question “What if I was fully charged?”

This book will change your life for the better, get it now! If you practice what’s in it you will never be the same.

I have read most of Tom’s books. So far, my favorite has been Eat Move Sleep. (btw, my kids love The Rechargeables, an illustrated version for kids) Are You Fully Charged? is a very good read and while it covers some of Eat Move Sleep ideas (particularly in the “energy” section), it feels like a more “complete” book. Basically, the idea is that while it’s important to make right choices about moving, eating and sleeping, that is really not enough. To experience what Tom calls, “full charge”, you have to also create meaning on everyday basis (he defines “meaning” as doing something of the benefit to other people). And, you need to focus on improving your everyday ratio of positive to negative interactions. Like his other books, this integrates a lot of research (over 200 references). I am also looking forward to seeing the film that will be related to the book. I saw the trailer on Tom’s website and it looks pretty interesting. I am recommending the book wholeheartedly. I am knocking half a star away for the length – the book could be a little longer.

I liked the practical tips given on recharging your life. Some chapters are more geared towards working people say in offices. I'm retired so that was not helpful to me. Over all well written though and good helps.

An easy read, full of great suggestions that are immediately applicable. Fantastic opportunity for extending the conversation with others, through the use of the reflection questions on each chapter, found at the end of the book. Have been recommending it far and wide!

Everything by Tom Rath is worth reading multiple times.

I found this book very disappointing. I like Tom Rath and have bought most of his previous works, which I think are engaging and really innovative and creative works.I don't think that applies to this work. It is largely a book which quotes statistics and research from others from around the world and then tries to construct a blueprint for life from that. The book splits into 4 main sections - the 3 elements represented by the coloured battery - which are Meaning: Interactions: Energy, & the largest section which is Tools & Resources. It all makes for a 244 page book - which looks significant and therefore explains the pricing - but this book I in large font and has loads of blank spaces throughout - the references section is 23 pages! There is no index.I found that I knew about nearly all the quoted research already - there was virtually nothing that hasn't already been covered on UK TV already. I was surprised that the section on sleep made no reference to Circadian Rhythms.I think telling readers to "work smarter not harder" doesn't really cut it in 2015........Overall I think this could easily have been a 100 page book - the section on Energy won't tell you a single thing you don't already know - eat well, be more active and organise yourself and your surroundings to sleep well!Overall I think there is very little new substance in this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It's very easy reading, and packed with tips on how you can up your energy levels in all aspects of your life, all based on research studies.It's particularly good on how to stay charged at work, particularly around the need to focus, avoid distractions, and find meaning in your work.I whizzed through it in less than a week, and although a fair bit wasn't new too me, it was still good to be reminded of important points, and I found lots of new food for thought too.