#Rest June 26

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Taking time to REST or get a good night’s sleep always helps my happiness.

 I often got asked during my tenure in Higher Education for advice on how student or student-athletes could succeed.

My top answer surprised people. It wasn’t going to class. It wasn’t going to the library. It wasn’t getting a tutor. Yes all of those things are very important but to me the biggest threat to student success and happiness was lack of regular sleep.  To be successful and free of stress you needed REST.

Sleep and REST are important for not just students but all of us. Anyone who wants to experience success as a leader needs to practice the habit of sleep.

To succeed as a leader you needed to go to SLEEP at the same time each night. When your habits lack regularity especially as it relates to what time you retire each night it is going to produce stress. That stress will have a negative impact on any goal a leader has to learn perform, or be happy. For me it is being in bed each night right around 9 p.m. and rising at 5:00 a.m.

There are things that we can do for our bodies that are superpowers. Exercise, diet, mediation, and REST or sleep.

I have been influenced by a fantastic TedTalk involving Dr. Matt Walker who is a brain/sleep scientist. He has shared his research on the importance of sleep on television and radio outlets including CBS’s “60 Minutes,” National Geographic, NOVA Science, NRP and the BBC. Dr. Walker also has a website called Sleep Diplomat.

In May of 2019 he did a presentation on “SLEEP is your Superpower“

Take 18 minutes and watch it. It has been viewed over 6 Million times so you won’t be alone. As you watch the video you hear Dr. Walker say that research has proven that you need sleep after you learn and of course before you learn. He also points out how the lack of sleep produces all kinds of negative outcomes in our lives.

Tap into the superpower of REST. You need it to be happy.