Work life has certainly changed over the past 10 years, hasn't it?  It is estimated that as a full-time careered worker, you will work an average of 43 years and well into their late 60's and early 70's before officially retiring.

What is even more of a surprise is that with the escalating costs of maintaining a "comfortable lifestyle" in which you can afford many of the same things you've become accustom to during your active working years (frequent dining at nice restaurants, several vacations a year, new automobiles, etc.), you'll have to work that long even if you have a nice-sized nest egg put aside.

As a member of today's workforce in America, you are ultimately facing an energy crisis. From crushing workloads to endless demands in personal lives, a 24/7 economy, and ever-increasing expectations require us to be able to skillfully access high energy levels whenever and wherever we  demand it.  Do you have a personal "training" plan that will enable you to sustain optimum performance without sacrificing your health or happiness... even into retirement?

Unfortunately, so many men and women in their twenties and thirties push to succeed in their businesses and careers, but forget about the toll it takes on their bodies and physical health.  They give up exercise after college and stop watching their diet in their earnest desire to reach some level of personal and financial success.  Often, fast food and a hectic, catch-up lifestyle is all they allow themselves.  The end result is, of course, that when they get into their forties and fifties, they find it harder to keep the pace and perform at the peak level they need to in order to sustain their success and their health.

To be sure you'll be able to enjoy your retirement with enough health and vitality once you eventually get there, here are 10 "lifestyle performance habits" you can start doing today:

1. Create an "hour of power" each day to revisit your personal and professional goals.  It may take getting up a little earlier or retiring to your bedroom a little earlier, but it is well worth it.  Take this time to focus your priorities and maintain clarity for your upcoming day.  Doing this will enable you to enjoy each day more, conserve energy, and lower your stress level.  It allows you to put your plan for the day on "auto-pilot".
   
   
2. Establish a concrete "physical" foundation upon which you can balance your emotional, mental and spiritual objectives.  Beyond day-to-day survival, we all strive to become more of the person we envision ourselves to be.  To do this, however, you have to have the energy and physical capacity on a daily basis.  This is best achieved by engaging in a well-defined exercise program for short periods of time and then strategically recovering. This principle is called "oscillation" and the right combination of strength-training and cardiovascular activity creates a powerful pulse that drives greater efficiency of your body and thus your energy system.
   
   
3. Develop a few stress-reducing "rituals" that you can use to sustain high-level performance when faced with unexpected stressful situations.  Nothing drains your personal energy more than when you have to deal with an unexpected event that seems to trigger your "fight-or-flight" response.  Subsequent biochemical changes in your body cause you to weaken and lower your tolerance to people, including family and friends.  Activities like deep breathing exercises before an important meeting or confrontation help to change your inner state and maintain inner balance.
   
   
4. Institute precise personal recovery rituals to decompress and renew energy every 90 to 120 minutes. For whatever reason, we tend to run our work and personal lives like that of a marathoner.  We get up and keep going until finally drop at night... often right into bed from exhaustion.  Research demonstrates, however, that we can sustain better personal performance on a more consistent basis if we engage in the mentality of a sprinter - full engaged in what we are doing mixed with periodic recovery times.  Regardless of what you're doing, get into the habit of taking as little of 10 minutes for yourself every 1 ½ - 2 hours and do something different.  Example: Have something to eat or do deep breathing exercises.
   
   
5. Perform a highly specific exercise routine at least three to four times a week that expands your physical capacity and stimulates mental and emotional recovery.  Research indicates time after time that a specific fusion of strength-training and cardiovascular activity in the right "dose" will enable you to reach a condition we call the Ideal Performance State (IPS) in which you can have ongoing delivery of peak performance in both work and personal day-to-day tasks.  It is the "induced recovery" that follows your exercise performance that is the real magic to longevity, health, and a more enjoyable lifestyle.
   
   
6. Stabilize blood sugar and energy levels by consuming four to six nutritious small meals and 64 to 128 ounces of water daily.  Your personal "gas tank" can only hold, digest, and absorb enough food for 3 hours at a time.  Any excess eaten over what your gas tank will hold gets converted to storage (fat).  To get your metabolism into the "burn everything you eat" mode, eat more often throughout your day and stay hydrated with non-carbonated, non-caffeinated liquids.
   
   
7. Be consistent on sleep patterns, focusing especially on going to bed and waking up early.   Attempt to get to bed a little earlier with the intent of waking up 30 minutes before you usually do.  Stay consistent with this pattern so your body gets all the rest it needs to recover and prepare you for the next day.  Refrain from watching TV right before you go to bed - take 15 minutes to "quiet your mind" so that you can more easily slip into a quality sleep rhythm.
   
   
8. Implement clearly defined rituals for positively connecting with family members, friends and even co-workers to facilitate your own ongoing personal development.  Make opportunities happen to compliment a co-worker each day.  Make a date with your spouse at least once a week to share a meal and discuss "yourselves".  Make it a point to share time with all of your children... but one at a time instead altogether.
   
   
9. Build effective rituals for truly separating work life from personal life. The time between the moment you leave work and the moment you walk into your home is a daily transition that requires you to make a mental and emotional change.  Help make this transition easier and more effective by performing an activity during or before you arrive at your home that allows for you to decompress.  Examples might include listening to a personal development CD rather than the radio on the way home, or stopping 10 minutes somewhere on the way home to take a walk in a park.
   
   
10. Conclude each day by holding yourself accountable for the progress made and behaving consistently with your deepest personal values.  Looking back over the day allows you to take a "rearview mirror look" at how you did.  And although they won't always end up perfect and you won't always perform at your best, it enables you to make small changes and set your expectations for tomorrow.