It’s New Years Eve and although I’m at my desk now, I’ll be finishing early so I can spend the afternoon cooking for a special dinner this evening. And then that’s it – tomorrow morning I’m hiding the wine and freezing any remaining cake and pudding 🙂
I love January. I struggle through November and December, hating the short days and poor light. Come 1st January, no matter the weather, my spirits soar and I get a burst of energy. I know it’s not the same for everybody – for some, going back to work in January hits hard and Spring can’t come soon enough.
The end of a year – and also a decade – is traditionally the time to review and reset, making your New Years’ Resolutions – which you may take seriously or not!
It’s to your credit if you take a few moments to reflect on how you’d like to improve life for yourself and also perhaps those around you. There’s something very human and humble about recognising that you could show up differently in 2020.
And yet we often overlook the basics.
Typically New Year’s Resolutions are all about self-improvement –
- you want to get fit, eat more healthily, cut back on alcohol
- you need to do more than just work, be more sociable, take up a hobby
- you want to be a better husband/wife/parent and support your friends better.
Fulfilling your promises to yourself takes energy, motivation, organisation and self- discipline. It’s no surprise that most people give them up within a few weeks.
Yet in contemplating your goals for 2020, have you overlooked something? Have you ignored the power of a good night’s sleep?
Without sound sleep on a regular basis, everything in life is that bit harder.
- it’s difficult to find the energy to exercise when you get home from work exhausted
- it’s impossible to find time for others – family, friends, colleagues – when lack of sleep means you have to work hard just to survive each day
- cutting back on comfort foods just seems too much when your chronically fatigued body is craving energy.
Many conversations with sleep deprived men and women have shown me how easy it is to get into a rut where you feel below par all the time. You accept that you’re just one of those people who don’t sleep well. You’ve maybe even completely given up hope. Maybe you’ve Googled sleep problems and tried a few things – and they didn’t work so you’ve given up again. Maybe you know what you should do but somehow can’t put it into action. Or maybe you’re so deep in that rut that you can’t see the way out.
Sleep deprivation, passivity and acceptance go together well. They work together to lock you in a cycle of fatigue.
However there’s another way this story could play out. A New Year is a great time to rekindle hope. Being hopeful about your sleep isn’t pie in the sky. With the right approach you really can regain the good sleep habit in just a few weeks.
So maybe this year your Resolution could simply be
Just take a moment to try that thought out now. Say the words to yourself. How do they sound?
Think how different your 2020 could be if you went to bed each night feeling relaxed and confident of a refreshing night’s sleep. I know that if you’ve had years of bad sleep you may feel very resistant to even contemplating this change. But just for now, put that on one side and ask yourself –
- What would be possible for me if I slept well every night?
- What would I gain? What new opportunities would present themselves?
- What else would be possible?
- What would I notice about myself?
- What would my family, friends, colleagues notice?
Perhaps your answers to these questions put you in touch with hope again – even a glimmer is significant.
To fix your sleep, alongside hope and a willingness to give it a go, you need a clear and structured pathway. A method that provides you with the science-backed tools to take you from sleep deprived to sleep confident. That way you don’t waste precious time and energy on superficial “cures”, weird diets or fancy sleep kit. (one of my pet hates is reading about the latest wacky cure that means you have to eat bowls of cherries or buy an expensive weighted blanket).
With my new Sleep Well Fundamentals online course, launching 6 January, you can do this. In just 5 weeks- yes, by mid February, if you follow all the steps and put aside about an hour a week, this is completely achievable. Just click Tell me more and you’ll receive full details on 2 January.
And btw I’m so excited about this as I just know it’s going to make such a difference to the health, happiness and success of my loyal readers 🙂
And as a thank you for making this commitment to your 2020, I’m also giving away a bonus resource to speed you on your journey to sleep well. Sign up by 5 January and you’ll have everything you need in one place to get your sleep – and maybe also your life – back on track.
Attend to the basics of sleep now and you truly could have an amazing 2020! All I need from you is a simple email with Tell me more
Here’s to a wonderful New Year!
