Your Future Depends On Your Dreams

I always find it interesting, and confusing for that matter, why people believe that, as part of sacrificing in order to create success, one must be prepared to give up a lot of sleep. Life needs to be about constant late nights and early mornings, day after day, month after month, and year after year, however long it takes until success is achieved, apparently. Look, I can't sit here and say that such a theory doesn't work, because here I am still trekking the journey, whilst there are those who are basking in success and wealth after having survived on just 4 or 5 hours sleep each night, for a few years on end. My question is though, at what expense have they really achieved their success? Undoubtedly, their success would have delivered them a massive sense of pride, satisfaction, and accomplishment, and they perhaps feel on top of the world without any sign of health issues right now, but this lack of sleep, especially for such an extended period of time, has surely got to take its toll on their body at some stage. As much as one wants to claim that sacrificing their sleep was an essential decision they had to make, in order to create success, and became pivotal in them actually achieving it, it doesn't alter the fact it's in no way beneficial to their health, mind, and body. It doesn't alter the fact that the human body is designed with the need for adequate rest, in order to effectively recharge and re-energize. And whilst we all have different time requirements of sleep, to meet our body's level of rest it needs, be it 6, 7, 8, or maybe even 9 hours, anyone that tries to justify that 4 or 5 hours is enough, whilst stating that they feel energized, alert, and not in any way tired, from that amount of sleep, are seriously kidding themselves.

It's been proven over and over, that we need to be sleeping around 7.5 hours to 9 hours each night, in order for our body to effectively rest and recharge, and help us perform at optimum levels. Achieving our goals and our dreams in life, is something we should all be aspiring to, undoubtedly. For those who sacrifice their sleep, and live off those 4 or 5 hours a night, you certainly cannot fault some of the characteristics they possess, that's for sure. They are goals driven, they are determined, they are motivated, and they are hungry for success, but sometimes we become too focused on the big prize, that we often lose focus on other important aspects of life in doing so. Just like with our job, or our business, we can be too focused on working hard and committed to generating an income for ourselves, just so we can pay our bills and provide food on the table, that we tend to devalue other aspects of life, such as our happiness, our mental health, and our family, in the process. Sacrificing sleep in a bid to achieve success, is basically sacrificing our health for success. How does that make sense? How is that really success? As far as our goals are concerned, making sacrifices is a given. There are many things that we enjoy doing, value, or love, that we simply have to let go of, so we can progress towards our goals, but sleep is something we should never sacrifice. Understandably, we want to generate results as fast as possible, we want to feel that sensation of success, satisfaction, and accomplishment, but the answer isn't found in working longer, it's found in working smarter.

Naturally, if you're going to deduct hours from your sleep, and allocate them to working on your goals, the process to success should speed up. When I think of business, it's so important to jump out of the gate and become profitable as fast as possible, otherwise the issue of cash flow very quickly starts to become of great concern. Many business owners believe if they're not generating the results, then they need to be working harder and for longer, when the truth is, it's not their work ethic and commitment level that's letting them down, it's their inability to change actions. You can dedicate yourself to an action for 24/7, 365 days of the year, for an eternity if you so choose, but if it's an action that is not working, then likely it will continue not to work. It's not the amount of time being applied that's the problem, it's the action that needs changing. The other problem with the length of time being worked, whilst the sleep is sacrificed, is the mental and physical factor. We can't just expect our body to perform at a high standard, if we are not giving it adequate rest. Our mind doesn't think as clearly and wisely as it should, so we are prone to more lapses in concentration, which leads to more errors. Physically, our body also tires quicker, so when it comes to manual labor, we tend to drag our feet, lag a little, and not apply ourselves at the level we are capable of. We talk about efficiency, and utilizing our time more effectively, when coming off a night of adequate rest, and even more so when these adequate rest nights are consistent, we are naturally going to perform better. Our mind becomes more clearer, our body becomes more energetic, and the result, our overall performance becomes better. It's common sense really. So whilst many believe working 12 to 18 hour days are what is going to lead to success, 8 to 12 hours of work, off the back of consistent 7.5 to 9 hour nightly sleeps, can be just as efficient, but without the damage to one's health.

There are undoubtedly going to be many naysayers to my post today, many people who will stay true to their belief that one needs to sacrifice their sleep in order to get anywhere in life, which will be purely from stubbornness in not wanting to change their ways. It's worked for them to date, they've achieved success, so they will stick to what they know what works for them, but now I want to look at the long term impacts. Just as it has been proven that success can well and truly be achieved when one is prepared to sacrifice sleep, it's also been proven that ongoing sleep deprivation causes major health problems to the body. Let the list begin of all the impacts to our health, to which a lack of sleep has been linked to. Hypertension, heart attack, stroke, obesity, diabetes, depression, anxiety, brain function deficit, memory loss, a weakened immune system, a decrease in fertility, and even some psychiatric disorders. Now, no doubt again, the naysayers will be quick to state that all these health issues can happen to anyone, and can be linked back to anything, and there's no disputing that certain lifestyles and habits also can lead to these such health issues also, but frankly, I'd rather listen to the advice of medical professionals and health experts, when it comes to my health, over someone who has created success for themselves, yet who has had no medical training, nor is qualified to give advice on health. I always promote the fact we should listen to, mimic, and follow, the best practices, routines, and advice, that those who have achieved great success, kindly share with us, but we also need to be careful that the advice we are being given isn't placing our health, or our happiness, in jeopardy. I also promote the fact we should take risks in life, but never where our health is concerned. Where is the benefit in achieving success, after sacrificing hours and hours of sleep, for years on end, only to wind up fighting constant health issues from middle age, even premature death, all because we were too focused on success, and failed to look after ourselves accordingly?

One of my closest friends has achieved some pretty solid success in the 20 years that he has been in entrepreneurship. His business has really started to flourish over these past couple of years, and he'd be on an income of around $200k now, easily. He normally goes to bed at 11pm and gets up at 4am, and has done so for as long as I can remember. He states he can't sleep any longer, which I can believe considering that's been his routine for so long, so his body has basically become accustomed to it. He's always wanted to go hard at work, so he can then retire at 55. For his sake, I really hope and pray he gets there, because he has worked so damn hard. He's always told me it's a waste of time to sleep any longer than 5 hours, and he can sleep when he's dead, but that sleeping when he's dead theory may come around faster than he may have anticipated, because he has failed to look after his health, by getting the required healthy amount of sleep each night. He's always looked in good shape, he eats well, he exercises, and has never complained of feeling tired, but these past few years, there are signs this lack of sleep may now be rearing its ugly head. He has become prone to colds and flus very easily, and seems to get them on a pretty regular basis, but is now also suffering another health issue, which he avoids talking about. The gist I got from it all is that he's on some medication, and now needs to be careful with what he does and eats. He will deny it to be as a result of a consistent lack of sleep, but he's also a stickler for never admitting when he's wrong though. Now, like me, he's just into his early 40's, so it's concerning to be facing restrictive health issues at this age. Coincidence, or proof? I'll let you be the judge. All I know is, that if you want to achieve success in life, but also be healthy enough to fully enjoy it, then sleeping 7.5 to 9 hours each night is a necessity. I will take risks to achieve success, but not when it comes to my health. Don't let anyone talk you out of getting that healthy amount of sleep your mind and body needs each night! Don't let anyone tell you that you need to sacrifice your sleep if you want to succeed in life! Your number one priority in life is your health, closely followed by your happiness, then comes your goals. Without your health and happiness, achieving your goals becomes insignificant and meaningless. Whilst we all have dreams that we want to achieve, we can't forget that dreams are formed in our sleep, so it makes sense that we need to sleep in order to achieve our dreams. Stop sacrificing sleep for success. Sleep, then succeed!

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