Sleep Fitness & Your Thoughts

Have you ever wondered how your thoughts are affecting your sleep?

This is something a lot of people don’t ask themselves.?And trust me, it’s in those details that life takes a turn.

For the greater.?

How do you set yourself up mentally for sleep? Let me tell you it ain’t something easy.

But it’s definitely worth it.

When I disrupted my sleeping wind-down routine a couple weeks ago, everything collapsed.?

Yes, not kidding.

My training sessions weren’t as good anymore. I didn’t have the same appetite. Great ideas were harder to come by.?

Then my stomach felt it. Then stress set it. Then…

You know what happened then.

In hindsight, I saw the learning opportunity!

What got me to write this. Here we go:

Mental Stability = Sleeping Quality

This is something a lot of people don’t understand. You can have a Tempur-pedic mattress, have the perfect environment, and sleep nine hours,

?and still not get the most quality sleep.

?Why?

Because your thoughts affect the way you sleep.

I’ve tested this out. Hear me out.

Sleep Disruptions (AKA Waking Up At Night) - Anyone?

Remember that when we sleep, we keep on thinking. It’s just that we’ve called those thoughts

“dreams”

So what we think through the day, leads to dreams at night. Thoughts from:

• Work
• Getting a Job
• Impatience (that one's for me)
• Financial Problems
• Family Issues
• Etc

Thoughts that convert into “problems” and that are typically created and exacerbated by our mind.

They are knots we alone tangle ourselves.

And thoughts we alone need to untangle.

Before we go to sleep!

And the best way to do that is to build a wind-down routine that works for you. A wind-down routine that helps you reflect on your day.?

It has to be yours. Not what’s in this article or what you read on a magazine.

Pre-Sleep Wind-Down Routine

As many of you know, I’m a pretty active guy. I train quite a bit, consider risky sports fun, and my hobbies are flying and road trips (adventure).

Those require tons of energy.

When energy sources (like sleep) wander, my tendency is to keep my momentum, and let me tell you.

It doesn’t work.

2 + 2 is 4.

That’s why I’ve found a good end-of-day routine is key to winding down and making sure that sleep is of optimal quality!

?Ok, I’ll start:

• Lights out & candles: I’ve found that turning the lights off an hour before sleeping and lighting up candles soothes me immensely.
• Magnesium: as I mentioned in a previous article, sprayed-on magnesium works like a charm.
• No blue light & high (mental) activity: activity fires me up (mentally). So if I watch a movie or something that “makes” me think, then my brain will stay on.

?And the most important:

Reflection:

• This is something my brother @Diego Hurtado showed me to do. It definitely puts a bow on top of my day. I discuss with myself the things that have taken place in the day. Often comparing them to the morning expectation. This is Gold.

Habit - That Word

Hate to say this but...

As with anything, this takes time. We are human beings and it takes time to learn. Time to adjust. Time for you to assimilate.

I’ll tell you it took me up to 3 months until my wind-down routine was having a massive impact on me. Three months of testing back and forth.

But it was so worth it.

So give this a try and let me know how it goes.

I’m always happy to exchange thoughts and ideas of what works!

-Gonzalo

#personaldevelopment #jobseekers #sprinterstribe