Stop Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: The Truth About Sleep

Sleep is, and has been, a Hot-Button Topic for 20 years…

For good reason: Sleep is the Super-Power that keeps on giving! The benefits of sleep, both in quality and quantity, are nothing new—but somehow, someway, sleep is still grossly under-valued… Why?

A few reasons, but typically the biggest is that there is no tangible "feel" to sleep until you become rested. (Rested is a different category and will be discussed in a future blog. Suffice it to say, for now, that the state of being rested is one that allows you to be your healthiest and most effective self.)

When you train/work out, there is a "feel" to the experience: blood pumping, heightened alertness, your heart responding to the stimulus of the action(s). It generally feels good.

When you prepare and/or consume a good meal, there is a "feel" of creation, preparation, acquired knowledge, and the experience itself—and it feels good.

With sleep, there is very little "feel" to the experience unless you are exhausted or highly stressed, and even then, it may take multiple nights to remedy.

Sleep is also associated with what you are missing instead of what you acquire. Sleep can be pushed back like few other things in your life. Lazy is a term rarely paired with training or nutrition for achievers, but sleep is commonly paired with what "you didn’t do."

Many simply sleep when they believe they are finished for the day—with no set bedtime or process of preparation before sleep. People extend the day reasoning that they need to get more done. That may be true, but "robbing Peter to pay Paul" has never been an effective strategy.

What time you go to bed is the single biggest factor in determining your recovery—and a large part of your health.

Before you say, "I can’t," have you tried?

• Have you set a bedtime and stuck to it?

• Have you examined how efficient you are with the last 90 minutes of your day? (Spoiler alert: not very!)

• Have you set 1–2 nights each week as a "sleep night," where your main goal is simply to go to bed ~45 minutes earlier?

Bedtime is a reflection of how much you value your state of readiness.

The worst part of all of this? You have no idea how good you can feel until you are rested. And most haven’t been rested in a long time.

Reaching a truly rested state takes 4–6 weeks of planning, discipline, and elimination (as well as support from a spouse, or fewer life events pulling you in all directions).

Sleeping well (8+ hours per night) for a month or more will change your opinion on sleep and energy forever. The issue is that many never get there. It’s understandable—life gets in the way.

So why not start with setting your bedtimes for the week and seeing where that leads you?

You won’t be disappointed!