Many aspects of business can be very predictable. If you're in the retail sector, it could be specific times of the year such as Black Friday, Summer Sales or Christmas. If you're an agency, it might be a client contract renewal or a major campaign or product launch. All businesses will have sales targets such as quarter end or fiscal year end. Knowing when these big events are is helpful as you can prepare for them, by making small changes which maximise your energy, mood and motivation.

Of course this is just as relevant to your personal life too. Welcoming a baby into your family, a house move and preparing for surgery are all big events for you and your family. Wouldn't it be great if you got ready for these demanding life events in the same way an athlete would ahead a major sporting event?

This is what I call cadence, and it's a simple four-step approach for managing energy:

• Predict - identify the big events coming up in your professional and personal life
• Prepare - small changes that have a big impact over time
• Perform - watch out for the red flags of chronic stress / burnout
• Recover - small steps that keep the nervous system in balance