THE RADIO SHOW

In this first chapter, we meet our energy management guru KC in his car on his way to do a drive-home radio show with Bill, the show's host. His appearance even lands him a corporate gig!

Kenneth Coghill is 68 years old. He has a PhD in sport psychology. Those are the basic facts. But as is the case with most facts, they don't tell you much about the man himself. The facts don't tell you how KC — as his friends call him — arrived at his current employable state. When individuals, particularly sport psychology graduate students, ask Kenneth what they need to do to get to where he is now, there's no clear formula he can give them. The path he's taken is too windy, unpredictable and organic to use as a template.

Luck and good fortune have played an important role in his life. They have to play a role in order for one to grow up in a northern mining town and end up going to eight Olympic Games, working with more than 70 Olympic medalists, teaching 20 to 25 days a year at a leading business school and making a living by giving speeches on coaching and mental fitness. That's a bare-bones description of Kenneth's professional life. His personal life is an equally meandering tale that will emerge in our story. Let's join that story.

It's four-thirty in the afternoon, and already, rush-hour traffic has taken hold of the city. Kenneth Coghill drums his fingers on the steering wheel as he slowly makes his way toward the radio station. He's scheduled to do a quick guest spot on the five o'clock show as part of the promotion for his latest book on energy management. The radio show is a great opportunity to kick up some publicity for the book — or it would be if he ever gets to the station.

"Why did I agree to do this thing on a busy Tuesday right after a long weekend? This time slot is a nightmare!" KC says to himself, feeling his irritation amplify with each minute he's stuck in this bumper-to-bumper traffic.

KC flicks on his radio. In half an hour, his voice is supposed to be crackling through the speakers, but right now, he hears the sympathetic voice of a traffic reporter who hates being the bearer of bad news.

"It's not looking good for rush-hour commuters," the reporter says. "Delays heading both east and west. And generally slow moving around the city. Good luck out there, folks. Buckle up for a long drive home."

KC doesn't wait to hear any more. He switches the radio off and takes a few deep breaths to try to settle his agitation. "Traffic reports only help if you want to become even more irritated than you already are," he tells himself.

Looking at the road ahead, he sees that he's somehow landed behind a courier van, its four-way flashers blinking as it inches along at a pace so slow it seems to defy reason. KC hasn't been keeping track, but it feels as if this is the fifth courier van he's managed to get behind this afternoon. He swerves the car a little to the left and then a little to the right, hoping to earn a better view of what's ahead. More traffic — that's all he sees.

Somewhere in the pages of his book, he's written about this type of experience — a commute can be irritating in a different way every day. There's a lot of advice in that book that would help him right now. It's too bad the frustration clouding his mind is making it impossible to access any of it. This is not a great mental state to be in for a discussion on how to most effectively manage energy. KC tries to remember his own advice, and he tries to steady his breathing in order to lower his arousal level, but the honk-honk-honk of a car to his left almost immediately interrupts these efforts to calm himself.

"What? Who's honking?" he shouts to no one in particular, an exclamation of pure irritation.

But when he turns to find the source of the honking, instead of a road-raging lunatic with a trigger-happy honking hand, he sees a kindly driver on his left, waving him into her lane with a gentle smile on her face.

It's a small gesture — nothing but good manners, really. However, the act of kindness is enough to erase KC's irritation and bring him back to his senses. He shakes his head at himself. He ought to know better. Getting irritated about things he can't change is a waste of energy. But even an expert on energy management isn't immune to the stresses of downtown traffic.

"A little wake-up call from the universe," KC says with a chuckle.

And just in time too. Right up ahead, he sees the sign for the radio station.

The studio is a beehive of activity. The five o'clock show draws the biggest audience for the station, capitalizing on the throngs of evening commuters who have nothing better to do than fiddle with their radio dials. Amid the bustle in the studio, KC finally spots Bill, the host of the Drive Home Show.

"Heya, Kenneth," Bill calls out with a big smile. If KC had to describe Bill with just one word, that word would be friendly.

Bill weaves around a few hustling people as he crosses a hallway to get to KC.

"Busy today, huh?" KC says.

"Always is," says Bill.

Bill leads them through the winding corridors toward the recording booth. They enter the room just in time to catch a promo for KC's upcoming segment: "Have you wondered how to correct the course of your life? How to develop better parenting skills? How to perform at an Olympic-gold-medal level for years on end? Well, good news. Coming up at the top of the hour, we've got energy management expert Kenneth Coghill joining us in the studio to help you sort out these issues."

"Wow, I'm supposed to do all that in twelve minutes? I must be good," KC jokes.

The studio is a small, modern and technologically up-to-date space. A U-shaped table dominates the room. There's a chair at the head of the table, the host's position, and two chairs along both sides of the U. Each of these spots is equipped with a microphone on a boom that can be used whenever needed. Across from the host's chair sits the board operator, who gives KC a friendly nod, but he doesn't have time to do more than that, because he's absorbed by the several computer screens and the soundboard in front of him. This guy handles all of the technical aspects of the show and keeps everything running on time.

Bill pulls out a chair for KC and then takes his own seat at the head of the table. He slips on his headphones, and a few minutes later, they're on air.

After a quick intro of KC and his background, Bill asks his first question. "So, Kenneth, the book is called Thermostat 247. Let's start with that. Why that...