Success Advice

Here’s How To Be More Chilled Out: Get More Sleep.

Published

6 years ago

Jan 23, 2018

Tim Denning

If you study productivity and write about it a lot as I do, people assume you must work 18 hour days every day.

I don’t work 18 hour days. I’m human. I’m normal.

Amongst my successful friends who have started businesses and made some serious cashola, they actually do the opposite.

They’re focused.

And they get a good night’s sleep.

Arianna Huffington has recently brought to light how important sleep is and what you can do to increase the quality of it. She preaches turning your phone off a few hours before bed and the art of blackening out all natural light from entering your bedroom.

She also advises gradually winding down the day with activities that are good to do before bed like reading.

The image I’m presenting here though is the opposite of what you see on social media with the “Hustle until your dead” picture quotes and entrepreneurs telling you to work your face off (what does that even mean?).

Somehow, we’ve fallen for the myth that minutes spent on a task equals the result. That’s total BS though. I sit next to people in an office every day that look like they are working their butts off, but when you actually look at what they’re doing, they’re making the following mistakes:

– Being taken over by small talk and distractions
– Trying to do too many things an executing on nothing
– Trying to look busy as if someone actually cares
– Doing things the old way rather than innovating and finding a faster way

My sleep story.

I won’t bore the pants off you. I felt tired and went to the doctor. I tried everything until someone said, “Tim how many hours do you sleep?”

I had to think about it and then I said “6-7 hours a night.”

That sounded like the average and like it should be plenty. What I didn’t realize was that it comes down to the quality of sleep and the number of hours is often different for each of us.

I cranked up the hours of sleep to eight and ever since I’ve felt heaps better. I’m now more focused and I don’t wake up yawning a lot in the morning.

Blacking out my windows and changing my pillow to a bamboo foam one also helped.

Here’s some things I learned about sleeping along the way:

1. It’s about discipline.

We can all go to bed an hour earlier and experiment with a bit more sleep. You have to make it a must (just like your goals) to execute and get the results. That takes discipline.

“Once you see the benefits through sleeping enough, you should be able to develop the willpower to go to bed earlier and stop working, or watching your TV that will never make you successful”

Sleeping is a decision and it will help you in the long term.

2. Napping helps too.

That might sound completely ridiculous but it really does help. I’m lucky enough to have nap chairs at the office I work in. On a particular day, if I feel extra tired and find myself getting pissed off easily, I go and have a 15-minute nap at lunchtime. Sometimes I do meditation instead – depends on how I feel.

3. Young adults need this advice the most.

Many interns and young adults who are in the first few years of their career need this advice the most.

“There’s this myth that if you get good grades and work longer than everybody else, you’ll climb to the top of the ladder and be successful. This concept is completely wrong”

Good grades mean you can recite other people’s information from a book. Whether you can think, make decisions, be creative and add value to the business world has nothing to do with fact’s and ideas you’ve memorized.

Also, take note of the senior leaders – I have. They typically roll into the office last and are the first ones to leave between 3-4pm. They’re not lazy; they’re just adding value which is the only measure of business success.

You’ll never be asked in a job interview to provide a timesheet of how many hours you worked or to brag about working late. In fact, if you mention that you work long hours, the HR team will think there’s something wrong with you and that you can’t manage time.

4. The mind must be chilled to work in your favor.

A rested mind makes better decisions and is less stressed.
A mind that is tired gets angry easily, makes poor decisions and has no focus.

There’s nothing better than having the empty space and efficiency of a mind that has been adequately rested like a well-rested steak, in an overnight marinade that’s just been placed on the BBQ (I’m Aussie so excuse the barby analogy). Okay, I’m Vego too, so that’s enough of that!

Bonus: My single best productivity hack.

This one won’t surprise you at all: Wake up early. After a good night’s sleep, waking up early allows you to spend those first few hours when your energy levels are high, on the one or two goals that are most important to you.

I find I’m more chilled when I spend the first few hours of my day being productive and working on my passion (blogging). It means for the rest of the day, I’m chilled because I know I’ve achieved at least one thing. Anything I achieve after the early morning is a bonus.

Not a bad way to live your days out don’t you think?

“My biggest enemy is distractions and the only time I seem to avoid them is early in the morning”

At 5 am, there’s no one emailing me, ringing my phone or telling me to clean up mess.

The thing is that I can only wake up early if I go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep. Getting more sleep is the antidote to waking up early if that’s something you struggle with.

There’s no point waking up early though if you’re tired because you won’t be productive. You’ll fumble around and procrastinate rather than working on your goals.

Closing Thought

Try getting more sleep for yourself. Don’t pretend you like being tired every day because deep down you know it’s sabotaging your success and making you lazy. The ancient art of sleeping more is back in fashion and the time is now to take advantage of it.

Instead of “Hustle till you die,” try this new mantra: “Execute with energy.”

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

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Tim Denning

Aussie Blogger with 500M+ views — Writer for CNBC & Business Insider. Inspiring the world through Personal Development and Entrepreneurship You can connect with Tim through his website www.timdenning.com

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

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In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.