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M o n d a y M o r n i n g M o t i v a t i o n W i t h M i k e #27

If you recall, a few weeks ago in my newsletter titled, “❤️Sure, you'd die for your loved ones❤️”, I reintroduced my “TEN WELLNESS COMMANDMENTS” and the very first one I listed was:

1. 😴PRIORITIZE SLEEP:

   • And I mean prioritize it. Talking mainly to myself as this area is where I struggle most.

   • There are endless studies that prove without a sliver of doubt how quality sleep is not just a luxury—it's a necessity. And quality sleep is defined as 7-9 hours; y’all I’ve averaged just under 5 hours this year. No bueno.

   • Sleep is the foundation upon which we build our daily energy, cognitive function, and emotional resilience. FACT. And lack of sleep can lead to a weakened immune system, weight gain (or prevent you from losing weight), and increased risk of chronic diseases, not to mention its impact on mood and productivity.

Those of us who are sleep deprived usually know why.

For me, it's because I do not have it as high as I should have it on my list of top priorities.

I’ll share my recent relationship with sleep in case my self awareness will help ‘wake up’ yours (pun fully intended) so you can get a better grasp of not only why you’re not sleeping but also how you can fix it.

If you’re sleeping great— CONGRATS, I love that for you— still keep reading because chances are you know someone close who is sleep deprived and maybe reading on will help you help them.

This year, so far, I’m getting less sleep than I have in a long while due to a combination of things:

1. I have a goal for this year of waking up every single morning— rain, snow, shine, weekend, holiday, vacation, birthday— no matter what, at 4am (4:09 technically).

   • The reason for this goal is because I find myself to be way more productive in the morning’s than at night. Now, if I would just quit wasting time in the evenings and get to bed at a decent hour. But I’m working on it and its getting better, slowly but surely.

2. That pretty little perfect, precious princess of mine is still not sleeping through the night. And I’m too stubborn to let the wife help at night. She does enough for our kiddos during the day so I take over the nightly duties.

   • It’s also selfishly because I don’t get to bond with her during the day as much as the wife does so I want to at night, even if we’re just sleeping. She knows daddy is there for her at night to console her back to sleep and that fills my heart and soul, enough to combat the exhaustion all day errrrday.

3. I’m not yet disciplined enough in staying on task during my evening routine so that the process doesn’t drag on for hours rather than 1 hour.

   • Mind you, some of the ‘distractions’ are reasonable and I’m 100% ok with, for example the wife needing to talk about something or the boys needing help with homework, etc. But if I’m being completely honest there’s a little bit too much (and any is too much) aimless scrolling on social media, or just dragging ass in general.

Now, I will say this, the number one leading cause for sleep deprivation is stress, anxiety, and negative thoughts.

Stress, anxiety, and negative thoughts will keep you up and keep you up and keep you up.

I’m actually rereading on of my all-time favorite books, The Miracle Morning by Hal Enrod, and in his second to last chapter titled, The Miracle Evening, he dives head first into this issue.

What stood out to me the most was this paragraph:

“This last step is as philosophical and spiritual as it is practical. Consider that when you came into this world, you were born into a pure, unaffected state of consciousness, with no worries, regrets, opinions, judgments, expectations, insecurities, fears, or belief systems thrust upon you by other people that told you how you were supposed to think, feel, and behave. You weren’t afraid of failure, stressed about problems, or concerned with what other people thought of you. Your mind wasn’t yet programmed with society’s invented norms, standards, and rules. You had no negative judgments of others nor any about yourself. And you certainly didn’t lay awake at night ruminating about the past or worrying about the future.”

Does that paragraph not nail it?!

There is so much goodness in that chapter and in that book its not even funny. I could be here all day quoting the book and telling you why I love it so much but I’d rather let you grab it and read in for yourself.

What I’ll do instead of blabber on about that book is close with one last sleep killer, one that cannot get enough attention.

We all do it.

And we must stop.

Put.

Your.

Phone.

Down.

If your eyes are constantly glued to the bright lights of your phone or TV your body will never know that its time for bed and it’ll fight you ever single night.

Can’t sleep? The last thing that will help you is you grabbing your phone and staring at it, so stop doing that!

Seriously! STAHP!

And that’s all folks😎

Thanks again for reading!

And please never forget:

“Sleep is the golden chain that ties our body and health together”
- Thomas Dekker

Much love, mi gente!

- Mike O’Hara

PS

In case you forgot, another one of my TEN WELLNESS COMMANDMENTS is to “Limit screen time”. A great way to begin that is to put your phone up and away at least 30-60 minutes before bed!

As always,

YOUR FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED:

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