5 Tips To Recharge Your Body And Mind Overnight

Now that you know that quality sleep is more important than just getting X hours of shut-eye, let’s talk about what you can start doing this week to take those hours you spend sleeping and turn them into serious recharge time.

Recharging Is Different Than Sleeping

For a lot of people, “sleeping” happens every night, but “recharging” doesn’t.  How do you know if this is happening to you?  If you wake up as tired (or more tired) than you were before you went to sleep, then you didn’t recharge.  You just took a breather, but you’re still exhausted.  Naturally, you want more than that out of your night.

The key to restful, recharging sleep is to do the same thing I do to the AA batteries I have at home when I want them to recharge - unplug them first.  Unplug your mind from the stress of the day, from all your worries and obligations, and give your mental wheels a chance to spin down and cool off for the night.

Easier said than done?  Perhaps so.  But perhaps the real issue people have isn’t that “unplugging” is difficult as much as they don’t have a plan for doing so.  When you’re stressed and exhausted, winging it isn’t the most effective way to do things successfully.  You need a plan.

5 Simple Ways To Beat Insomnia And Sleep Like A Baby

Here are 5 easy tips you can use tonight to unwind and prep yourself for a truly recharging night of sleep.  All you need is a notebook, a pen, and a few minutes devoted to taking care of yourself.  Here’s what to do:

• Make peace with the end of the day. As unusual as that may sound, this makes a huge difference in your ability to unwind.  Think back over the events of the day and reflect upon all the things you did get done.  Feel good about that.  (Smile, dammit.)  And if you totally blew the day vegging out, don’t kick yourself.  Remind yourself that we all need “mental health days” and accept that you had a good one.  If the day was pure hell, however, at least take a moment to be glad that it’s coming to a close.  Find something to be thankful for, and focus on that for a minute.

• Empty your mental pockets. Many people suffer from insomnia or other sleep disorders in part because they can’t mentally let their to-do lists go.  You’ve got to be able to shift your attention away from the 1,000 things that aren’t done so that you can sleep in peace.  The simplest thing to do is just to take 5 minutes and scribble them all out into a notebook, or type them out, or whatever works for you.  Just get them out of your head, tell yourself you’ll deal with them tomorrow, and give yourself permission to relax.

• Schedule out tomorrow. You’ll be more likely to let yourself let go of the worries of tomorrow if you know up front that you’re going to be taking care of them.  Take a few minutes to schedule out what you’ll be doing tomorrow, so that when your head hits the pillow, you can enjoy the sense of certainty that comes with knowing what lies ahead.  5 minutes doing this can more than pay for itself by means of a more restful sleep - and give you a clearer reason to hit the ground running in the morning.

• Go for the gold. Olympic athletes close their eyes and visualize every aspect of what they will do in their moment of glory.  They see themselves winning, they prepare their body and mind by getting “in the moment,” and they grab the Gold.  You can do the same thing.  Take 2 minutes to close your eyes and visualize how good you are going to feel as you unwind into sleep, how deeply you will rest, and how incredibly refreshed you’ll feel in the morning.  Give it a shot and see why it works so well.

• Loosen up. Take 3 minutes and do a few simple stretches to loosen up your shoulders, neck and back.  I’ll go over a few of these in an upcoming post, but you don’t have to wait for me to tell you what you can do.  Just listen to your body; see what muscles feel tight and give them a few gentle, 15-30 second stretches before bed.  You’ll be surprised how many satisfying pops and cracks are followed by sweet, sweet relief.

You Know What To Do - Now Make It Happen

Give these tips a shot - see how they work for you over the next 3 days and let me know your results in the comments.  I look forward to hearing your success stories.  And if you’ve struggled with making other sleep tips work in the past, check out the Becoming an Early Riser program - you won’t be disappointed.

See you next post,

Dave

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How To Improve Your Sleep & Feel More Rested

This post is part of the Better Sleep series. Be sure to sign up for RSS or email updates to catch the entire series of articles.

We’ve talked about a lot of things in the last week’s worth of posts.  Things like why I wake up early and the 5 things that become easier when you do so.  We’ve talked about sleep problems and even asked if you should try to wake up early in the first place.  I’ve also received a few great emails in response to the better sleep challenge, so I’m looking forward to this week’s series.  So let’s start with the important stuff - how to actually get more restful sleep in the first place.

Quality, Not Quantity Is What Matters Most

If you want to get a better night’s sleep, then you need to step back and think about what “a better night’s sleep” really means.  It doesn’t mean that you make sure you get “your full eight hours.”  In fact, a 2002 study involving over a million people indicated that people who slept less than 8 hours of night lived longer than those who got 8 hours or more of shut-eye (But that’s irrelevant, because I’m not advocating that you should sleep less).

What I am talking about is ending the practice of looking at sleep as a numbers game.  It’s not the number of hours you sleep that matters as much as the rest you actually achieve in each of those hours.  It’s like life - it doesn’t matter how much you “have,” if you can’t enjoy it.

If you sleep 10 hours a day but you’re physically and emotionally a wreck, you’re never going to feel rested, because stress and physical tensions are going to be taking their toll on you even after you drift off to sleep.  But if you begin making simple adjustments in your daily routine and invest even just a little bit of time into preparing to rest rather than just hitting the pillow, you might just find yourself waking up feeling refreshed for a change.

Treating Sleep Like The Special Event That It Is

Many people who suffer from insomnia, sleep disorders or just a plain stressed-out lifestyle wish they could get a better night’s rest.  However, for most of them, all they do is wish for it and roll the dice.  They close their eyes and hope that they will magically wake up refreshed.  Sometimes this happens, but more often than not the morning comes and that tired feeling hasn’t gone away.  Sleep?  Check.  Rest?  Houston, we have a problem.

A big part of this comes from treating sleep as a “have to,” such as brushing your teeth, cleaning your ears, or using the bathroom.  Sleep becomes just another function of the body, and given that approach it’s no wonder many people get results like … crap.

But what if you treated sleep differently?  What if you treated it like something special you were doing for yourself, something that would truly give you relief, enjoyment and satisfaction?  While these may seem like odd words to use when talking about sleep, stick with me and you’ll catch my meaning.

Sleep Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

Think back to the last extravagant food you put in your mouth - a gourmet chocolate, a rich dessert, a juicy ribeye … whatever.  Something expensive.  Something you didn’t get every day.  Did you wolf it down like any other piece of food that day?  Or did you savor it, taking slow bites and enjoying the flavors, textures and aromas flooding your senses?  Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

When you savor something, you enjoy it.  You take your time with it. You draw out the enjoyment you get from it, and because of that, you remember it long after it’s gone.  You get as much as you can out of it, and the experience energizes you. And you make the time to enjoy it (you don’t eat ribeye at a drive thru, right?).

You do the same thing when you take the time to pamper yourself.  Maybe you draw a warm bath, close the door and relax to some peaceful music to unwind and refresh yourself.  Maybe you pour yourself a scotch on the rocks, slip on the headphones and sink into your chair as the sounds of jazz fill your ears.  You know what I mean here - when you want to do something for yourself you prepare for it, you make the time and you ease into it.

What If You Approached Sleep This Way?

What if you savored your sleep?  What if, instead of just crawling under the covers you did something to truly unwind, refresh and prepare yourself to be as relaxed as possible?  Do you think you would get a more restful night’s sleep?  You already know the answer.

Tomorrow we’re going to talk about some first steps to making that all happen so that the time you spend with your eyes closed actually recharges your body (rather than just giving you enough energy to “get by”).  Making this psychological shift is the first step.  You must decide you are going to savor your sleep. This is a foreign concept to our rushed culture, so if it feels weird to think this way, don’t be surprised.  But roll this thought around in your head today: I am going to savor my sleep tonight.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow.  Just take at least three moments to yourself today and focus on that thought, and remember how good it felt the last time you took time for yourself.  Relive the satisfaction, relief and enjoyment … and get ready to make those feelings part of your everyday life rather than just on a special occasion.

See you next post,

Dave

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Do You Quit Too Easily?

Quick Note: The Better Sleep series will continue next week, as I’ve spent my post-writing time reading SEO School from the mistress of home business tips, Naomi Dunford.  Review coming tomorrow.  If you’re new here, check that Better Sleep series out!

From the I-Couldn’t-Have-Said-It-Better department …

Michael Martine (my favorite blog consulting master) knocks it out of the park in a Men With Pens post:

One thing that bugs me to no end is when people say “I tried,” when what they’re really saying is they only put in a little effort and then gave up.

When I was in the Marines (yes, I really was, but was injured in basic and let go) I was told to find something in the barracks by one of the drill instructors. I looked for what seemed to me like a reasonable amount of time and reported back to him that I couldn’t find it.

He looked at me and said, real slowly, “Then I guess you ain’t done lookin’ yet, are you?”

I got the message, and that message has stayed with me ever since.

Do You Get The Message?

Are you giving up too easily?  Trying something once, or just for a little while, and then telling yourself you just don’t have it in you to make it work?

On some level, you know that you’re bull$hitting yourself.

Today, and every day, why don’t you imagine your own mental drill instructor who will tell you, real slowly, “Well, I guess you ain’t done tryin’ yet?”

Think of something you’ve been giving up on lately.  Lay it on yourself.  Remind yourself that you’re not a quitter.  See how it makes an instant difference.  Enjoy.

More Monday,

Dave

(PS - If you haven’t checked out “What’s Holding You Back?,” check it out soon.  Michael has convinced me to raise the price soon).

Review of SEO School, Part 1: Touched By A Ninja

Note: A fuller, meatier review of SEO School will give you more info than this preliminary review post.

“SEO Tips For Beginners” would be the perfect title for home business rockstar Naomi Dunford’s search engine optimization e-book, but that title wouldn’t have nearly enough cursing in it.   It’s a great (and entertaining) read if you’re not sure how to get started with SEO and you don’t want to blow a huge wad of cash hiring a consultant.

That said, this book isn’t intended to make you the master (or mistress) of SEO.  What it does promise to do, however, is to:

• teach you enough of the basics that you won’t make stupid mistakes that kill your search engine rankings, and
• teach you enough of the basics to start doing the smart, simple things that will get you better rankings moving forward.

I’ve read through this 52-page e-book this week and I can easily say that:

• I now see the stupid mistakes I’ve been making (and have started fixing them), and
• I know know a solid handful of basic techniques I didn’t know before that will help me rank better for the terms I want (i.e., the terms that sell my audio programs).

I intended to have a kick-ass review all ready, but this week has treated me, as Norm Peterson put it, “like it caught me in bed with its wife.”  So you’ll have to wait ’till next weekend for a more exhaustive review, and like I did with my Freelance Smackdown! series, I’ll do some play-by-play of how my search engine rankings improve as I use Naomi’s SEO School book on my blog.

Bottom line: Buy the damn thing, or at least check it out. I’m glad I did.

G’nite -

Dave

The Better Sleep Challenge: 30 Minutes To Change Your Life

This post is part of the Better Sleep series. Be sure to sign up for RSS or email updates to catch the entire series of articles.

Yesterday we talked about what you would do with an extra 30 or 60 minutes a day (180 - 365 hours a year!), and we had a few good comments (drop by and add your own when you get a chance).  Now it’s time for a challenge - I dare you to make it happen next week.

The best part is that you can do this even if you’re not interested in becoming an early riser - if you’re a night owl, just block off 30 minutes a night to tackle something meaningful in life you’ve been putting off.  The goal here is to add something that has long-term importance to your life so it can become a habit.

This is a lead-in to some of the tips I’ll give you next week on how to pack more actual rest into the sleep you get every night.  For today, however, I want you to just think of what you’re going to do with your 30 minutes each day and block it out on your calendar.  This in itself will help you get better sleep tonight.  Why?

Knowing You’re Moving Forward Helps You Unwind

Mentally, you’re telling yourself that you’re going to be doing something that will make your life more fulfilling and balanced, and because of that, you’ll feel better overall.  A little less stressed.  A little happier with where your life is going.  And that will help you sleep easier at night, period.

Because I want to see you have the highest chances of success, here’s what I suggest you do over the weekend:  Get an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep on Saturday and Sunday, just to make sure you start Monday out right.   The world will not end if you catch a little extra sleep this weekend, whether it’s packing in early or sleeping just a little later. If you take on this challenge you’re going to have a hella great week, so set yourself up for success.

So What Will You Do During The Challenge?

If you haven’t already decided to step up and stop putting that important “something” off any longer, put  your goal on yesterday’s post.  Get some rest this weekend.  And prepare for a week you’ll really enjoy and remember for a long time.  I’ll field all your questions on how to make it easier to wake up ready for action and I’m sure the 300 or so people who read this blog daily will chime in with some words of encouragement.

It’s your life.  Take control of it.

See you on Monday -

Dave

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Should You Even Try To Wake Up Early?

This post is part of the Better Sleep series. Be sure to sign up for RSS or email updates to catch the entire series of articles.

Michael Martine of Remarkablogger raised an important point in a recent post about the benefits of waking up early:

I find the biggest difference in getting up early only happens if I don’t check my email, comments, and social media feeds. It only benefits me when I use that time to write blog posts for Remarkablogger or lessons for Gateway Blogging.  Checking messages, etc, is a big waste of that early morning creative time.

That’s an important point: There’s no use in working at becoming an early riser if you’re not going to put it to good use.  But what constitutes “good use?”  Time spent on business?  Reading a good book?  Planning fun things to do with your family?  Exercising?  Praying? Studying for that big test?

To be sure, each person reading this can come up with their own answer for what’s meaningful to them.  The question is, have you?

What Would You Do With An Extra Hour A Day?

For those of you working on waking up early, this is an important question to ask yourself (though it’s equally important for those who take the night owl route).  If you suddenly had an extra hour a day, what would you do with it?  What would be meaningful enough for you to consider it time well spent?  What have you been putting off for weeks / months / years / forever that you just don’t want to put off any longer?

This is a big question.  A potentially life-altering question.  Take a good moment to think about it.

An hour a day = 7 hours a week= 365 hours a year … the equivalent of just over 2 months of 40-hour work weeks. That’s a lot of time, whether you tack it on the beginning or the end of your day.  Hell, even a half-hour a day would give you 180 hours of so of dedicated time over the course of the year.

What could you do with that much time allotted to something that’s truly meaningful to you?  Think long term here, people.  Let your mind wander wherever it wants to.  Think big.  Or think really, really small, if what you’re considering is one of the “little things” that add so much to life.

Food for thought.  Tell me what you’re thinking of in the comments.

Because, tomorrow, I have a challenge for you.  Be ready.

I’ll see you in the comments.

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Why Waking Up Early Can Be So Hard

This post is part of the Better Sleep series. Be sure to sign up for RSS or email updates to catch the entire series of articles.

While I’m pleased to see I’m not the only one to wake up early and enjoy the benefits of doing so, I know from bitter experience that for a lot of people, it’s not an easy path to take.  There’s resistance, both internal and external that can make it difficult.  Becoming an early riser wasn’t something I nailed on the first try, and if you’ve tried it you may have had some of the same struggles as well.  Let’s take a look at a few of those obstacles to better sleep and early rising and talk about some workarounds.

Obstacle #1 - Jumping Mt. Everest In One Step

I can’t say it any better than the fine folks at Trizle: It’s easy to fail when you try and climb Mt. Everest in one step.  Even really smart, successful people fall prey to this.  If you’re trying to develop a new habit that’s strength based (such as getting better at something as opposed to breaking a habit that’s an addiction), you can’t go wrong with the slow and steady approach (even if our instant-gratification culture views that as the weak way to do things).  If you get up at 8am and your goal is 6am, don’t try 6am the first day.  Ratchet back a bit at a time.

Obstacle #2 -You’re Just Not That Into It

Face it - when you want something - you really want it - you do what it takes to make it happen (assuming you know how to make it happen, that is).  When you have an exciting vacation planned, waking up early to hit the road is easy.  If you don’t have a compelling reason to want get up early, if you’re not emotionally and mentally invested in it, then it’s going to be really hard.  You’ve got to get your reasons clear in mind, and you’ve got to be able to tap into that emotion when the alarm goes off.   Forget willpower - think want-power.  Do you want it strongly enough?

Obstacle #3 - Staying Up Really, Really Late

As much as we’d like to, we can’t burn our candle at both ends.  Often people try to start the early riser habit without making any change in the time their head hits the pillow.  But waking up early involves shifting your sleep schedule, not simply shortening it.  If you’re looking to get up earlier in the morning, you’ve got to give a little to get a little.  Remember, waking up early frees up time in the beginning of the day, so if you’re hesitant to go to bed earlier because you have too much to do, don’t forget that you’re simply shifting time, not giving it up.

Obstacle #4 - Hanging On To Late Night Entertainment

Certainly, there’s a trade-off that has to occur when you wake up early and go to sleep earlier to compensate.  Maybe there’s a show you want to watch or an online game / community you want to interact with.  But you’ve got to make the call - if the benefits of waking up early are worth it to you, set the VCR / DVR to record those shows.  Save the online stuff or evening face time for a different time slot.  Make a conscious decision that you’re trading something “good” for something that’s “better.”  I’m not saying it’s easy - just that it’s worthwhile.

Note: You may be in the place where the people you really want to interact with are only available later at night, and shifting that isn’t an option that is worth it to you.  There’s nothing wrong with that. Early rising isn’t the ideal choice for everyone.  If that’s the case, keep your eye on this series as I discuss things that can help make the sleep you’re already getting more restful.

Obstacle #5 - Only You Know This One …

I’m positive that there are other obstacles to waking up early that I haven’t covered in this short post, and I’d love to hear your input in the comments.  In my Becoming an Early Riser program I have 20 mini-workshops that help build habits that make it easier to get better sleep and wake up energized, but I’d be very interested to see if there are obstacles I haven’t included that I could work into the program as bonus material.

I’ll tell you what - lay out your biggest obstacle(s) in the comments below, and if I haven’t covered it in my program, I’ll work on developing a mini-workshop to help you move past it and I’ll send it to you via email so you can blast it out of the water.  If I have covered it, I’ll let you know.  (And if you just want to dive in now, you can get the program here).

I’ll see you in the comments!

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5 Things That Become Easier When You Wake Up Early

This post is part of the Better Sleep series.  Be sure to sign up for RSS or email updates to catch the entire series of articles.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a night owl if you’re doing it for all the right reasons, but when you focus on getting better sleep and waking up early you tap into a number of benefits that most people don’t get by staying up late.  Busy workdays often lead to weary evenings, and in the rush to keep up important things can fall by the wayside.  It’s not easy for anyone to keep it all balanced, but waking up early can give you a definite advantage when it comes to getting more of what you want out of life.  Let’s look at 5 things that get easier when you give waking up early a chance.

#1 - It’s Easier To Feel Good About Your Day

Most of us live lives that are pretty damned busy.  Sometimes way, way too busy.  Because of that, it’s easy to be frazzled, hurried and stressed when you wake up after hitting the snooze button and realize that you have to hit the ground running if you hope to get going in time.  That rushed feeling doesn’t go away easily for most of us, and we carry that stress throughout the day (and night).  But when you wake up early, you get to start the day on your own terms.  You get time to “warm up,” to let your thoughts settle, and relax before it’s time to spring into action. You get to be proactive - rather than reactive, which gives you a greater feeling of control (and cuts your stress during the day).

#2 - It’s Easier To Keep Your Life Balanced

The greatest thing about waking up early is that almost nobody else does. :-)  This means you have a chunk of time where you’re likely to be free of interruptions and demands - and you can finally do some things for yourself (for a change!).  The things you’ve been putting off - exercise, journaling, reading, relaxing, attending to your personal or spiritual growth - these are all things that you can start making time for “under the radar” of a day that crouches in wait with infinite urgencies and demands.  By setting aside a slice of your day for you, a more balanced life becomes something you’re actually working for, rather than hoping for.

#3 - It’s Easier To Sleep Well At Night

When you know that the next morning will give you a chance to meet the day on your own terms, and that you’ll have an opportunity to bring more balance to your life, you’ll feel a lot better when you put your head down on the pillow.  You won’t feel so rushed, so overwhelmed, so running behind … and you’ll be able to relax more at the end of the day, knowing progress awaits in the morning.  And while that’s not a guaranteed cure for insomnia or other sleep disorders, it certainly can’t hurt.

#4 - It’s Easier to Stay Focused And Productive

This is a given (and that’s why it’s towards the bottom of the list).  Tasks tend to expand to meet whatever time limits we set for them, and that can be dangerous late at night, when you’re geared up to “just work a little longer ’till it’s done.”  But when you block out time in the morning to do something, the deadline becomes more real.  You’ve got to get a task done before the kids get up, or before it’s time to go to work, and you hustle more to get it done.  You resist distraction and stay more focused.  And that’s a good thing to have going for you.

#5 - It’s Easier to … (you fill in the blank)

The “teaser” post for the Better Sleep series received a lot of great comments from all of you, and I’d love to hear more.  If you’re an early riser already, add to the list via the comments below.  If you’re an early riser-in-training, comment on what you’re planning to “make easier” when you start meeting the day on your own terms.  And if you need some help waking up early, click here to get it.

Waking up early isn’t as grueling as most people think - but there are some very real obstacles, which I’ll discuss in the next post, Why Waking Up Early Can Be So Hard. Sign up for RSS or email updates and don’t miss a post in the Better Sleep series.

Why I Wake Up Early (And Why You Might Want To As Well)

Since I teach a course on waking up early, I get a lot of email about how to do it (and more specifically, how to make waking up early easier instead of a freaking ordeal).  Most of the questions fall into a few simple categories such as dealing with sleep disorders, insomnia, stress, etc., but every once in a while I get a question that stands out from the rest.  Last week I got a great question, so good that I think it desrves a post-style response, since you might have asked yourself this same question before.  The question?  Here goes:

Why the hell would I want to wake up early?  I’d much rather stay up late and get things done then.  What’s wrong with being a night owl?

Why Night Owls Are So Much Less Productive Than Early Risers

Just kidding. That headline isn’t true at all.  There’s nothing wrong with being a night owl and there’s no magical reason that waking up early is better than staying up late (so no flame wars in the comments please).  If you’re staying up late and getting a lot of truly meaningful things done, then keep on keepin’ on.  There is no shortage of people who are burning the midnight oil and creating the life that they want.  More power to them (or ‘More power to you’ if you’re one of them).

But, consider this …

Working Late Could Be A Sign Of A Bigger Problem

Whether you’re working late, you have to ask yourself why you are choosing to do that.  Is it because you’re setting meaningful goals, blocking out time, and tackling them?  Or is it because you are trying to “catch up” or cram things in to an overworked lifestyle?  I spent a lot of my life in the latter, and I can tell you, it’s no fun.  When you’re living a life of reaction - trying to figure out how to handle it all - you open yourself up to “working the problem” rather than working through the problem.

Here’s what I mean.  If you’re falling behind, or you have more goals than time, the simplest answer is to stay up later and try and get more done.  It’s the easiest answer.  But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s right.  Staying up later to “get it all done” may essentially be an enabling behavior.  Maybe the problem isn’t that you’ve fallen behind - maybe the real issue is that your daily habits don’t set you up for getting ahead. In other words, the issue isn’t that you’re not bailing water fast enough, it’s that you have holes in the bottom of your boat.

And if that’s the case, staying up later to bail faster isn’t the solution.  Patching those holes is.  And doing that might require:

• Changing poor work habits

• Improving your time management skills

• Resisting the temptation to engage in time-wasting distractions

• Reducing the number of commitments / goals you manage

• Telling people ‘no,’ even when it’s inconvenient / uncomfortable

• Making a life change (for example, new job / career)

• Etc., etc., etc.

Working Late Could Be Taking The Easy Way Out

Again, if you’re a night owl who is making consistent progress on a life of balanced, meaningful goals, then more power to you.  But if this article has been making you squirm (and truth be told, it’s making me squirm as well as I think of some habits I need to work on), then your spidey-sense is telling you that you might need to start patching holes instead of playing catch up.

Working late is all well and good, but may simply be a way of distracting yourself with the problem rather than facing the discomfort that comes with trying to fix it.  Listen to your gut.  What’s it telling you?

Why I Became An Early Riser - And Why You Might Want To As Well

When I realized that working late wasn’t getting me ahead, I decided to start getting up early instead.  Why?  Because there’s a different dynamic that exists in those early hours, a special kind of time that lends itself more strongly towards getting ahead rather than just “doing stuff.”  There’s something about building that habit that just makes it easier to think about making changes that really do improve your life.

Getting up early has given me time to think abut what I want to do with my life without the distractions of the world.  I can think more clearly and make decisions more objectively, and on top of that, it just feels good to get into a waking groove earlier.  In the next post - the beginning of a series of articles about getting better sleep - I’ll talk more about the specific benefits that come with making the shift to an early riser routine.

Until then, I’ll see you in the comments, and I do hope you’ll subscribe to this blog to catch the “better sleep” series.

“Shut Up” - The Two Most Important Words For Success

While gearing up to start next week’s series on better sleep, I came across this video gem via StrongLifts.com featuring Will Smith.  (You don’t have to watch it to get the point of this article, but it’s a fairly inspiring 2:09 of your time).

When “Shut Up” Shows You Really Care

For those who skipped the video, Will Smith talks about how the act of running can make you a stronger person because it forces you to have to deal with that voice in your head that tries to make you give up. I’ll let Will say it:

“When you’re running … there’s a little person that talks to you, and that little person says, “Oh, I’m tired,” or “My lungs are about to pop,” or “I’m so hurt, I’m so tired there is no way I could possibly continue.” And you want to quit.  If you learn how to defeat that person when you’re running, you will learn how to not quit when things get hard in your life.“

If you really care about succeeding at something, about following through, then you’re going to have to learn how to tell yourself to shut up (or, if you’re from New York like me, you can tell yourself to “f*ck off.”  Canadians do this too.).

Learning to silence that voice that tells you to quit, or that you can’t handle it, or that you’re too tired is one of the keys to success for any goal.  This internal resistance is going to happen (you know from experience that it will), so it’s mandatory that you learn to deal with it up front. You need to plan ahead to say what needs to be said so you can do what needs to be done.

Nailing this is so critical to winning, in fact, in both my early riser and time managment programs it’s pretty much the very first thing that I teach.  It’s that important.

What Your Heroes Do When Nobody’s Looking

If you admire anyone who has reached a measure of success, don’t buy into the fantasy that it came easy to them.  It didn’t.  No matter how easy you think some people have it, they busted their ass to get to where they are (and likely still do on a daily basis).  Their success was hard-earned.  It cost blood, sweat, and tears.  It took real work, and there were times when that voice screamed in their heads to quit, to take a break, to come back another day, to throw in the towel.

But they didn’t.  They told that voice in their head to shut up.  And they got back to work.

And they won.

Are You Willing To Tell Yourself To Shut Up?

As you face this weekend (and the coming week), think of the tough things you’ve got on your plate (or the things you’ve been avoiding / slacking off on).  Think of the things you tell yourself that hold you back from taking action.  Rehearse those all-too-familiar conversations in your head and then practice cutting them off with a hearty “shut up!” - or again, a “F*ck off!” (once more, with feeling).

If you want a step-by-step way to make training that response easy, you can find it right in the beginning of my audio programs. Learn to get the last word in the conversations you have with yourself, and a Will Smith said, you’ll learn how not to quit when things get hard in your life.

Now get to it - you’ll thank yourself for it.

Share your “shut up” one-liner in the comments below and subscribe to this blog for more real-life success tips.