Win the day with sleep

Foreign. Everyone, Excuse me. This is Sean Butner with Start your day with a high performance coach. Hope you are well this morning. Hope everything's going good. I am super excited to be here. So we just finished a series on the five pillars of high performance. So check that out for the last couple of, like last week, we've been going over that. Today I want to talk to you guys about a really important topic called sleep. And really, like, you can win the day with a good night's sleep. And it can make a whole difference in how you show up, how you're present, how you make decisions, how you can think through things with a little bit more sharpness, all because, you know, you're able to get that sleep. And I am talking to you as someone who has a little bit of chronic insomnia. So it's something that I have been learning along the way in my, like, 38 years here on the planet. So let me share with you a couple of things that, you know, have really helped me struggle or that have caused me to struggle. So first off, I'm not sure if you guys have ever had that overactive mind, but that's usually when I have insomnia, it's usually either allergies or it's, you know, I just haven't had my mind settled and it'll like spin and spin and spin and you get more and more worked up the more quiet you try to be. And before you know it, it's 2 o' clock in the morning, you know, and then, you know, you start to feel stressed. You start to get, you know, angry at yourself for not going into slumberland. And you can really, really, you'll throw off your week, your day, and it's consistent, you know, just your quality of life really tanks. So that's kind of where I was in high school. More allergies now. And that is a whole other thing. But there are things that personally that I've noticed that help me with that, too. So, so what do you do when you have that overactive mind? Or what do you do when you can't fall asleep? And you know, there's really good books out there. I think it's Brad Walker, he's a psychologist at UC Berkeley, has this book on sleep. Arianna Huffington has a really good book on some very practical things you could do to get a great night's sleep. But you know, in general, like, it's, you know, how do you take care of your mind during the day so that you can go to bed fairly easily? Right. And so what causes your mind to spin? You know, for me, it's working over a situation. Kind of like George on Seinfeld, you know, like the jerk factory syndrome, where, you know, you have something and you're, like, overanalyzing it as an analytical dude. Like, that happens to me all the time. I'm not sure about you guys. So how do you get that stuff out of your head? How do you deal with emotions? You know, there's a lot of intense feeling going on, a lot of anger, a lot of anxiety, a lot of uncertainty. How are we handling that during the day so that by the time we get to our bed, we can say, you know what? I did the best that I could today. I'm happy with how I showed up today. Good night. And when lights out. So. So part of that, you know, having a meditation practice, part of that is having a journaling practice. Part of that is, you know, being able to exercise your body to work out some of those emotions. You know, those are, like, the basic things most people tend to know but don't consistently implement in my observation of the world. So, you know, go back to the basics. Like, those are three things that can help you kind of, you know, get ready for bed and prepare your mind. Another thing that people tend to get tripped up on with sleep is this belief that there's some type of superhuman that can survive on, like, four hours of sleep every night. And, you know, there's a reason why, you know, in the Geneva Convention, that's. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture because you can't do that consistently. Or when you talk about the, like, Was it Navy SEALs that have the hell week where you don't sleep for a week? It's, you know, to prove that you can do it. It's not to live into that life. You know, you need to know how you react when you're sleep stressed, but you don't want to live that because everything just sucks. It's terrible. So. So don't, you know, most people. I think it's like 98% was the statistic I read in one of those two books. Don't have the gene that, say, says that you can get by on little sleep. So just assume that it's probably not you. And, you know, for an adult, it's, you know, seven to nine hours is the recommended thing that we've seen in high performance. That tends to make the big difference. You can visibly see a drop in your IQ for anything less than seven hours. So if that is incentive enough, to say, like, get at least seven hours or you're going to be dumber then. Yeah, I don't know what's going to motivate you. So don't be dumber. You know, get your seven hours of sleep. Part of setting up the environment, too. Like, you don't want to. You want to keep sleep basically for sleep and for, you know, sexy times. If you have a partner, but you don't want to be watching TV or eating food in the place where you're sleeping, then you're starting to train your body that this isn't a restful spot. It's where you do stuff. So that's basic sleep hygiene. Having, like, a ritual at the end of the day that prepares your body for sleep. So, yeah, everyone, like, you wash up, brush your teeth, that kind of stuff. You know, it could be, like, putting on, like, comfy pajamas. It could be, like, dimming the lights. It could be, you know, giving your environment cues that it's time to wind down can help you, you know, sail off into sweet slumber. Also, like, temperature, right? Everyone has their specific temperature that they like, but I think the general rule is colder is better. It's like 68 degrees is the recommended thing. I have a thing called a chili cube, and that thing is a game changer. I'm not sponsored by these guys, but I do love their product. We use it every night and each side of our bed with me and my wife, we can control the temperature. So I have mine at, like a cool 62. She's at, like 74 on her side. So everyone is comfortable enough to get the sleep that they need without having to, like, you know, for me for quite a while. Especially in the summer here in California, where we don't have air conditioning. It could be, you know, uncomfortably warm for most of the night, but that helps. So chili cube is awesome. You know, having your habits to wind down, clearing your head is enough. You know, again, what we talked about with. With sleep. And then the fourth thing is, this is a little bit weird maybe, but at the end of the day, you want to say, you know what? I've lived into the best of who I can be. So, you know, when, you know, you. Your head hits the bed, you're like, I got everything that I needed to get done to the best of my ability. Don't have anything outstanding that needs to get done, or you can get that all out on a piece of paper, too. If you have, like, tasks that are. You keep thinking about, like, just journal it out so you have a list for tomorrow. You're like, okay, today is done. Tomorrow's a new day. Good night. You know, and. And when you can have that, like, mantra before bed, that also can help. It has helped me. So. All right. That's all I want to really share about sleep, you know, because when you get a good night's sleep, you win the day again. Like, if you're not getting enough sleep, talk to your family and friends to see if they like being around you. And I'm sure you get some, like, awkward. Like, yeah, it's. You're fine, you know, so it is super important. And I'm not sure if you've ever worked with someone that didn't like to sleep and they were really grumpy. So don't be grumpy. Don't, you know, penalize yourself intellectually by not getting enough sleep. You guys can go out and do it. Do what you got to do. If you would post your favorite evening rituals or things that help you sleep, I'd love to hear that said. Share it for the group, too, because I don't have all the ideas. This is just the stuff that works for me. So. That said, guys, hope you're doing well, Hope you have a great Wednesday hump day. Go crush sleep tonight and see how crazy your day changes tomorrow, okay? All right, guys, take care and talk to you tomorrow.