Here's a little story I'm slightly embarrassed to share (after all, they do call me the world’s most disciplined man)... But it contains an excellent teaching point! I recently returned to using my Oura ring because several clients suggested it as an early warning sign for diagnosing Covid. The Oura ring is also a painful reminder about the detriment of late night eating and the effects of even a single glass of alcohol on my sleep. Alcohol is probably the worst offender when it comes to sleep trickery. You see, most people think alcohol helps you fall asleep... And while it does make you drowsy, it can literally rob you of every minute of REM sleep at night... leaving you tired and underperforming the next day. That’s what happened to me last Wednesday night. After filming a 90 minute podcast with Jason Capital (for his YT channel) Michelle and I joined JC and his partner Nataly for dinner at CDM – a wonderful restaurant in Corona Del Mar. JC, Nataly, and Michelle ordered tea... Tea's not my thing at any time of day, but I wanted something... And even though I knew better than to have alcohol… my past habit of spending years with Bedros starting our big steak dinners with a drink led to me making a bad decision that night... The hum of the restaurant beat down my common sense and I indulged in my old-time favorite, a Black Russian. Even worse, Americans pour their drinks strong! Michelle laughed at my buzz the whole way home. The next morning I woke up from what seemed like a solid seven hours of sleep... but my Oura ring stats told a different story about the quality of my slumber... I literally got zero minutes of REM sleep. By noon I was fatigued and irritable. My workout was weak. The big lesson? Alcohol – even a single drink – destroys your high-performance sleep. Now I’m working on fixing my eating times and saying goodbye to booze forever. (I only have one or two drinks per month... but even that is proving to be too many.) When I nail my nights I rock my morning. But when my nights nail me I get rocked in the morning. Please don’t make the same mistake as I did... Just say no! Bottom line: If alcohol, eating late at night, or anything else is distracting you from operating at your full potential… You need to eliminate those temptations. Here’s a popular post I wrote that can help with that: >> https://www.earlytorise.com/12-rules/ It’s a short read and people really love the message. I hope it helps you too. Success Loves Speed, Craig |