The 3Ms of Energy: Motivation, Momentum, and Maintenance

Charles Chiobi
Sep 11, 2025
4 min read

3Ms of Energy: Why Managing Energy is the New Productivity

As someone who has dedicated most of my life to fitness and wellness, I have always been fascinated with the application of proven techniques and tools that optimize our life experience through elevated energy levels, high performance, and balance across different dimensions of responsibility.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that balanced energy is a form of currency — one of the most valuable resources we have to sustain performance. No matter how sophisticated our tools or detailed our plans, without consistent energy, our ability to deliver, create, and thrive is compromised. This realization pushed me to dive deeper into the science and psychology of performance, learning from masterminds and leading voices like, the Holy Spirit (gentle promptings of Grace), my dear wife (my better half), Dr. Andrew Huberman (Stanford neurobiology: My go to for anything neuroscience), Jim Kwik (Limitless: My brain coach), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: my role model).

Drawing on these insights, combined with lessons from my recent Stanford Product Management program, I’ve built a practical framework to help track and improve daily energy. I call it the 3Ms of Energy:

Motivation – igniting the spark to get started.
Momentum – sustaining consistency and progress.
Maintenance – protecting and replenishing energy for long-term performance.

To make this framework actionable, I developed the 3Ms Energy Dashboard — a prototype dashboard that takes input from a mobile/desktop app that helps track the daily habits that drive these three levers.

Visualizing Energy with the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard

To see the 3Ms in action, explore the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard

( offered by Google)

The dashboard provides:

Daily and Weekly Summaries of energy, focus, and mood.
Compliance tracking tiles for activities like exercise, breaks, caffeine timing, and sleep.
Correlations, such as how nutrition, activity, and caffeine (for dopamine pathways) influences focus, energy, and sleep quality.

By capturing just a minute of data each day, you can visualize patterns over time and identify what fuels — or drains — your Motivation, Momentum, and Maintenance.

The 3Ms in Practice

Motivation – Finding the Spark

Activity Compliance: Even small, regular workouts (150–300 minutes/week plus two short strength sessions) can significantly elevate mood and drive. Research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows exercise reduces depression and anxiety symptoms across diverse populations.
Caffeine Compliance: Use caffeine intentionally, not habitually. Wait ~90 minutes after waking for your first dose (coffee or a lighter caffeine shot like Mio Energy), limit intake to ~360mg per day, and avoid it within 6 hours of bedtime.

Momentum – Building Consistency

Focus Compliance: Short 2–6-minute movement breaks every 30–60 minutes preserve focus and cognitive performance. A simple 50/10 timer (50 min work / 10 min break) helps sustain energy.
Nutrition Compliance: Delay your first meal until around noon or ~5–6 hours after waking, and start with a protein-rich, low-GI meal (25–35g protein). This balances blood sugar, curbs afternoon crashes, and reduces evening snacking.
Breathing Compliance: Just 5–10 minutes of paced breathing (~6 breaths per minute) improves HRV (Heart Rate Variability), reduces stress, and supports consistent energy.

Maintenance – Protecting Recovery

Light Compliance: Get at least 30 minutes of outdoor light within 2 hours of waking to set your circadian rhythm.
Sleep Quality: Guard 7–9 hours of nightly sleep by managing caffeine cut-off times and experimenting with 30–60 minutes of extra time in bed. Research shows sleep extension improves mood, reaction time, and overall performance.

The 7-Day 3M Sprint

Want to try it yourself? Here’s a simple week-long experiment you can start today:

Daily

30 minutes of morning light exposure
2–6-minute movement break every 30–60 minutes
Protein-first meal after fasting until ~noon (or ~5–6 hours after waking)
5–10 minutes of paced breathing
Cut caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime

Weekly

20–40 minutes of moderate cardio (3x per week)
2 Short strength sessions (3x per week)

Track (1 min each night): mood, focus, energy (1–5), activity minutes, break compliance, light exposure, protein intake, sleep hours.

Your data feeds directly into the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard, where you can see how your daily actions influence your energy, focus, and recovery patterns. You can also use the Kegi Labs Energy App to log entries quickly, which then sync into your dashboard for weekly review.

Start Today

Energy fuels everything — your career, your creativity, your relationships, and your growth. The 3Ms of Energy aren’t about overhauling your life overnight; they’re about making small, repeatable choices that add up to transformational results.

If you’ve been waiting for the “perfect” time to reset your habits, this is it. Start today. Track your Motivation, build your Momentum, protect your Maintenance — and take charge of your drive and performance.

Explore the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard and utilize the Kegi Labs App (high fidelity prototype) to own your journey.

📚 References

Huberman, A. (Stanford University). The Huberman Lab Podcast. Retrieved from https://hubermanlab.com
Kwik, J. (2020). Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life. HarperCollins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. Basic Books.
Abdaal, A. (YouTube). Productivity & Learning Resources. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/c/AliAbdaal
Schuch, F. B., Vancampfort, D., Firth, J., et al. (2018). Physical activity and incident depression: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. American Journal of Psychiatry, 175(7), 631–648. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17111194
British Journal of Sports Medicine. (2023). Umbrella reviews on physical activity and mental health outcomes. BMJ Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://bjsm.bmj.com
Lehrer, P. M., & Gevirtz, R. (2014). Heart rate variability biofeedback: How and why does it work? Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 756. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00756
Stanford Graduate School of Business. (2023). Product Management Program. Retrieved from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/exec-ed/programs

As someone who has dedicated most of my life to fitness and wellness, I have always been fascinated with the application of proven techniques and tools that optimize our life experience through elevated energy levels, high performance, and balance across different dimensions of responsibility.

Drawing on these insights, combined with lessons from my recent Stanford Product Management program, I’ve built a practical framework to help track and improve daily energy. I call it the 3Ms of Energy:

Motivation – igniting the spark to get started.

Momentum – sustaining consistency and progress.

Maintenance – protecting and replenishing energy for long-term performance.

To make this framework actionable, I developed the 3Ms Energy Dashboard — a prototype dashboard that takes input from a mobile/desktop app that helps track the daily habits that drive these three levers.

Visualizing Energy with the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard

To see the 3Ms in action, explore the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard

The dashboard provides:

Daily and Weekly Summaries of energy, focus, and mood.

Compliance tracking tiles for activities like exercise, breaks, caffeine timing, and sleep.

Correlations, such as how nutrition, activity, and caffeine (for dopamine pathways) influences focus, energy, and sleep quality.

By capturing just a minute of data each day, you can visualize patterns over time and identify what fuels — or drains — your Motivation, Momentum, and Maintenance.

The 3Ms in Practice

Motivation – Finding the Spark

Activity Compliance: Even small, regular workouts (150–300 minutes/week plus two short strength sessions) can significantly elevate mood and drive. Research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows exercise reduces depression and anxiety symptoms across diverse populations.

Caffeine Compliance: Use caffeine intentionally, not habitually. Wait ~90 minutes after waking for your first dose (coffee or a lighter caffeine shot like Mio Energy), limit intake to ~360mg per day, and avoid it within 6 hours of bedtime.

Momentum – Building Consistency

Focus Compliance: Short 2–6-minute movement breaks every 30–60 minutes preserve focus and cognitive performance. A simple 50/10 timer (50 min work / 10 min break) helps sustain energy.

Nutrition Compliance: Delay your first meal until around noon or ~5–6 hours after waking, and start with a protein-rich, low-GI meal (25–35g protein). This balances blood sugar, curbs afternoon crashes, and reduces evening snacking.

Breathing Compliance: Just 5–10 minutes of paced breathing (~6 breaths per minute) improves HRV (Heart Rate Variability), reduces stress, and supports consistent energy.

Maintenance – Protecting Recovery

Light Compliance: Get at least 30 minutes of outdoor light within 2 hours of waking to set your circadian rhythm.

Sleep Quality: Guard 7–9 hours of nightly sleep by managing caffeine cut-off times and experimenting with 30–60 minutes of extra time in bed. Research shows sleep extension improves mood, reaction time, and overall performance.

The 7-Day 3M Sprint

Want to try it yourself? Here’s a simple week-long experiment you can start today:

Daily

30 minutes of morning light exposure

2–6-minute movement break every 30–60 minutes

Protein-first meal after fasting until ~noon (or ~5–6 hours after waking)

5–10 minutes of paced breathing

Cut caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime

Weekly

20–40 minutes of moderate cardio (3x per week)

2 Short strength sessions (3x per week)

Track (1 min each night): mood, focus, energy (1–5), activity minutes, break compliance, light exposure, protein intake, sleep hours.

Your data feeds directly into the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard, where you can see how your daily actions influence your energy, focus, and recovery patterns. You can also use the Kegi Labs Energy App to log entries quickly, which then sync into your dashboard for weekly review.

Start Today

Energy fuels everything — your career, your creativity, your relationships, and your growth. The 3Ms of Energy aren’t about overhauling your life overnight; they’re about making small, repeatable choices that add up to transformational results.

If you’ve been waiting for the “perfect” time to reset your habits, this is it. Start today. Track your Motivation, build your Momentum, protect your Maintenance — and take charge of your drive and performance.

Explore the 3Ms Energy Lab Dashboard and utilize the Kegi Labs App (high fidelity prototype) to own your journey.

📚 References

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