The foundation to goal attainment...

The first step to achieving your goals is….

We are growing up in a culture of non-stop, go-go-go, instant gratification, grinding for every hour, hustle non-stop, 24/7 action.

Chaos, and being busy. Except there’s being ‘busy’ and being productive (you can read about this in my previous blog).

But something that is largely overlooked, and largely misunderstood is the foundation for your ability to achieve your goals is

SLEEP.

It may sound outlandish. What am I going to achieve if my first priority is sleep?

Let’s use Susie as an example. She works full-time at an office, and has two young children and a husband. Her main goals for 2020 is to land a promotion at work (she’s been desperately seeking a position that she hears will be recruiting soon), and she wants to spend more quality time with her husband and children.

Susie works back late at work most evenings to hit deadlines and prove she is capable for a new role. She returns home exhausted most nights, and often has to spend copious amounts of time negotiating (arguing) with her kids to get them to bed. She tries to spend whatever remainder time with her husband after they’ve gone to bed but this often ends with them zoning out in front of the TV. Although she’s exhausted, when she finally gets to bed, she has trouble falling asleep, racing through all the things she needs to do for the following day.

Susie is sleep deprived and it’s affecting:

- Her cognitive performance and motor skills: and likely the reason she is taking longer to complete tasks at work, and doesn’t have the capacity to problem solve effectively. This shows up in the quality of her work, despite staying back late each weeknight. The CEO notes that it takes her longer to perform tasks & this could ultimately impact the company’s ability to hit KPIs on time.

- She’s burned out from working back late each night that her kids pick up on her low mood, stress and exhaustion. Children are so intuitive, and emotional beings. They react to her energy, and her lack of responsiveness as a mother by kicking up a fuss at bedtime. Rather than spending some quality time with her kids, she’s spending most of it battling them to snooze.

- Prolonged difficulties with her children each night equates to less quality time with her partner. Despite having a few hours together, the quality of their time is poor as Susie can barely keep her eyes open.

And this cycle continues.

Susie thinks that is she can ‘keep grinding’ and ‘just get over this hurdle’ then things will improve.

Except what she really needs to do, is address the foundation to her issues; her sleep.

When we have mastered the foundations, that’s when we can truly add the next layers of success

If Susie sounds a little like you, you’re not alone. So many people I speak to are having trouble reaching their goals despite their efforts.

And it comes down to basic fundamentals not being addressed.

Sleep is the pinnacle to health, wellbeing and longevity.

If Susie implemented a quality 7-9 hours most nights, she’d likely be more productive at work. Rather than going overtime, she’d have more time and energy for her children, and her improved mood would deflect such a frustrated reaction from her kids at bedtime. She’d end up having more quality time with her partner as a result.

Sleep has a profound trickledown effect that cannot be overlooked…

How do we get better at sleeping?

Like anything, we need to start forming new habits. And these new habits are going to require some sustainable change over time to maximize the results.

Just like we’d never take a sugar addict completely off sugar (it can be potentially harmful to their health). If you’re constantly going to bed at 2AM, a new bedtime of 9pm just isn’t going to work.

Small changes= long-term success

Here’s a few tips to improving your sleep hygiene

1) Make small changes and set weekly sleep goals. If you’re currently only getting 4 hours of sleep each night, try and aim for 5 each night and increase steadily each week.

2) Set up a sleep routine so your body clock knows when it’s time to shut down: you may dim your lights an hour before bed, run a hot bath, do a few stretches or read a few pages of a book. Continue a nightly routine and stick to it. Your brain will eventually recognize these as signs to wind down for the day.

3) Keep a notebook handy: this tip is for all the chronic over thinkers. Write down a list titled ‘all the things that can wait until tomorrow’ and list everything that’s on your mind. Tell yourself that none of these things will be solved overnight and invite yourself to sound sleep.

4) Blue lights out: the light emitted from televisions, phones, laptops etc. have properties that affect your ability to produce melatonin (sleep hormone) and ultimately impact your quality of sleep. Try and switch off screens at least an hour before bed.

5) Honour your sleep and remind yourself frequently that you are no good to anyone if you’re energy, motivation, brain and physical capacity is undermined from a lack of sleep.

I want to know, have you had trouble with sleep and do you think it influences your ability to reach your goals?

Want to work together about getting you closer to your goals? Send me a message and we can have a chat!