Last night as I was falling asleep, I was reflecting on the wonderful time I spent with a dear friend who came up to Ojai for a hike to chat about his next hero’s journey.    We talked about some of the key themes of our upcoming Mastery Series/Optimize Coach program. (Fun fact: Looks like he’ll be doing the program with TWO of his kids—which makes my soul smile.)   So…   One of the things we discussed was creating Masterpiece Days. Of course, we talked about the fact that our day starts the night before (PM counts twice!), the importance of being creative before we’re reactive and all that jazz.    We also spent a fair amount of time talking about The Fundamentals (Eat! Move! Sleep! Breathe! Be Present! Prosper!) and how important it is to Optimize our Energy so we can show up most fully in our Work and our Love.   But what I found myself thinking about as I was falling asleep was the fact that when most people start to think about architecting their ideal days, they start with “Time Management.”   Optimizing the nuts and bolts of how we manage our time is, of course, important. But I think there’s something more important and essential than managing our time.    As Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr put it in The Power of Full Engagement, we need to manage our ENERGY. When we prioritize Energy Management, things like our PM Bookends (with its shut-down complete and digital sunset rituals) become obvious high priorities.   So…    Energy Management > Time Management.   But…   There’s something FAR more important than either Energy Management or Time Management.   Virtue Management.   This is, essentially, what all (!) the great philosophers and spiritual traditions have taught us since the dawn of time.    Live with Wisdom. And Self-Mastery. And Courage. And Love.   Why?   So we can more consistently close the gap between who we’re capable of being and who we’re actually being as we joyfully show up as the Optimus-best version of ourselves in service to our families, communities, and world.   When?   TODAY.   P.S. We’d be honored to welcome you to our 2020 Mastery Series and Optimize Coach programs. You can sign up now. Based on the feedback of the 1,000+ Optimizers who participated in our inaugural class, I KNOW we can help you make 2020 THE greatest year of your life and the start of the greatest decade of your life.    Let’s do this!!!