Sleep Is The Key To Your New Year Goals

Sleep Is The Key To Your New Year’s Goals. Sleep is that golden chain that binds health, wealth, and success together.

It’s about that time of year again…

A new year is approaching quickly and we are taking the time to reflect on the past year and look forward to what the next may bring. Despite our differences, when it comes to making goals, we all tend to want the same things. 

We want to:

• Exercise more
• Lose weight
• Eat Healthier
• Stop smoking
• Limit alcohol
• Spend Less
• Save more

In our minds doing one or more of the above will make us a better person, allow personal growth, and improve our overall health and well-being. After all, isn’t that what we all want?

We want to be healthy both mentally and physically in order to show up the best we can for ourselves and our loved ones.

There is one thing missing from the lists of most commonly made resolutions and this is the SINGLE MOST EFFECTIVE THING WE CAN BE DOING to make ALL of our other goals easier to accomplish.

This thing requires no membership fee, no expensive gear, or fancy juicer. This thing is FREE and readily available to you every single night if you’re willing to prioritize it.

It is sleep. Quality sleep. Sleep is that golden chain that binds health, wealth, and success together. Sleep is a non-negotiable biological necessity.

It is a known fact that sleep deprivation is on the rise and our mental and physical health is taking a major toll.  One-third of American adults report sleeping less than six hours per night, a 15% increase over levels 15 years ago.

Sleep deprivation is even more prevalent among the youth. “Chronic sleep loss amongst youth is a major public health crisis globally and is associated with a multitude of physical and mental health issues.” –Dr. Hoi See Tsao

Read more about kid’s sleep deprivation and how we can help.

What is quality sleep and how much of it do you need?

Experiencing quality sleep means that your body is undergoing normal and predictable physiological sleep cycles including both REM and deep sleep. You should be devoting adequate hours to sleep and wake up feeling energized and restored.

There are some questions you can ask yourself to determine your own quality of sleep like:

1. How long does it take you to fall asleep
2. How long are you asleep in your bed?
3. How often do you wake up in the middle of the night?
4. Do you have difficulty getting up in the morning?
5. Do you have difficulty staying awake or concentrating during the day?
6. Do you doze off or find yourself napping frequently?

Changing Sleep Behavior

The number one key to behavioral change is convincing yourself that whatever it is you’re trying to improve is really important.

Figure out your WHY.

Once you have a really powerful way, you’ll be able to figure out the HOW.

Getting adequate sleep is going to increase your ability to perform at your highest capability and increase your willpower to accomplish the hard things daily.

Start with giving yourself the 8 hours of sleep non-negotiable. These 8 hours are devoted to you and your bed, with no exceptions.

When you’re sleep-deprived, holding on to the willpower to make the right choices to further you along in your New Year’s goals becomes extremely difficult. On top of that, even if you are able to spend those couple hours in the gym every morning, yet still only allow your body to sleep 5 hours, you aren’t allowing enough time for your body to recover and create the muscle growth and strength you are trying to achieve.

You are less likely to stick to your diet when sleep-deprived. Read more about how missing sleep can cause weight gain.

Reasons Why Sleep Is The Key To Your New Year’s Goals

You will make better financial decisions- 

You think more clearly after a good night’s sleep. Your brain and the regions that are responsible for decision-making and emotional processing are performing their best when getting adequate sleep. 

You will perform at higher levels in every aspect of life- 

The entire point of sleeping is to get you ready to show up as your best tomorrow. If you have a bunch of things to handle, the most capable you will ever be, the highest capability you will have is going to be after a good night’s sleep.

You’re going to be the…

• Smartest
• Strongest
• Fastest
• Most Creative
• Best problem-solving ability 

…after a good night’s sleep.

So, if you have challenging things to deal with, why wouldn’t you want to show up with 100% of your resources ?!

You will be more self and situationally aware-

Your ability to collaborate and work with others is best when fully rested. Mood and ability to recognize facial expressions and social cues are perceived easier when operating on quality sleep.

You will be less likely to get sick or die from disease-

Chronic sleep deprivation can take about 16 years off your life.  

“People drastically underestimate how much sleep is linked to killing us.” – Matthew Walker

Learn more about how better sleep can prevent sickness and boost your immune system.

You will feel more calm and able to handle stress-

We tend to carry more panic and anxiety when our bodies and minds don’t get the rest and recovery they require to reset nightly. Sleep deprivation leads to higher cortisol levels.

When you sit down to reflect on the past year and write down your goals for the upcoming year, remember that everything that makes you better and more capable to take on the next day happens when you sleep.

Getting the quality and quantity of sleep you need nightly will allow you to remain consistent in working toward ALL of your goals every day, rather than for the first few months of the year.

The time to prioritize sleep is now. Check out Doc Parsley’s Book Sleep To Win.